TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With over 80 bills already approved this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed yet another law on Friday.
This latest law — HB 757 — makes several changes related to school safety, including the Florida Guardian Program.
Previously, the program allowed qualified school personnel to serve as an armed guard to ward against active assailants on school premises.
While that’s still the case, HB 757 now allows public colleges and universities to participate in the program, as well. In these cases, the presidents of such institutions may appoint faculty members to serve as school guardians.
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That said, participating universities must still verify that guardians meet state requirements to serve as school guardians. Those requirements include holding a concealed weapons permit, passing a psych evaluation, and completing a 144-hour training program.
It’s not the only change that HB 757 makes, though. Per legislative analysts, other provisions are as follows:
- NEW CRIME: Prohibits anyone from discharging a weapon within 1,000 feet of a school during school hours or during a sanctioned school activity (punishable as a second-degree felony)
- FORTIFYFL: Requires schools that don’t have a public safety reporting application to promote using FortifyFL and to install/bookmark a link to the tool on certain school devices
- STUDENT RECORDS: Requires certain records related to student behavior, including threat assessment reports and student psych evaluations, to be transferred from a K-12 school to a Florida College System institution or state university upon his/her enrollment
- SAFETY TRAINING: Requires district school safety specialists to explain the purpose and proper execution of specified school safety training protocols
- MORE RULES: Requires schools to:
- adopt an active assailant response plan
- annually conduct a security risk assessment
- train faculty to detect and respond to mental health issues
- connect students with mental health services
- establish threat management teams
- adopt policies relating to supports for students, faculty and staff
The law took effect immediately upon being signed.
Meanwhile, you can find the full list of new Florida laws approved so far this year by clicking here.
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