Q&A of the Day – Palm Beach County Schools Considering the Guardian Program
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Today’s Entry: Brian, it's interesting to hear the sudden change in tune regarding the Guardian Program for the PBC School District. What do you think is going on here? It would seem that there’s more to the story for the same Super to flip his perspective.
Bottom Line: No doubt, Palm Beach County School Superintendent Michael Burke’s about face on the state’s Aaron Fies Guardian Program, whereby qualified teachers are able to go packing into the classroom is interesting. Except that we do know he’s had a proclivity to suggest more guns within the school district is perhaps advisable – he of the “send lawyers, guns and money” comment of a couple years ago. Kidding aside, his reversal last week in suggesting the Palm Beach County School District should consider entering the state’s Guardian Program is a notable shift for a county which hasn’t considered it since it went live in 2019, as passed as a companion to the state’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas School Safety Act. Quoting Burke: This is not about handing out guns to teachers. This is about finding a few, a handful of people who are credentialed enough. You have to be very skilled with a firearm to pass this training. And would it make sense to supplement our school police officers — not replace — but to have a few more people potentially on our larger campuses that would be able to help out in the event of an emergency? So, to address your question. What’s changed, that’s led to Burke attempting to lead on this issue in advance of potential consideration by the Palm Beach County School Board?
One might speculate and suggest that with Palm Beach County’s recent flipping from a Democrat controlled county to a Republican one, that perhaps Burke is reading the tea leaves of which direction the future of the school board may go as well and is engaging in a political calculous of sorts. That’s sheer speculation, however. What there is, is a growing body of evidence that the program is safe and potentially effective. There are a lot of issues in which no news is good news. School shootings are certainly one of them. Notably, since the passage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Safety Act in 2018, we’ve not had any of them. That includes from school employees who’ve been able to carry on campus as a result of the Guardian Program which was passed in 2019. First, let’s hit the reset button as to what’s required for participation once school districts have opted in:
- 80 hours of firearms instruction
- 16 hours of instruction on precision pistol instruction
- 8 hours of instruction and experience in shooting simulators
- 8 hours of instruction in active-shooter or assailant scenarios
- 8 hours of instruction in defensive tactics
- 12 hours of instruction on legal issues
- 12 hours of certified, nationally recognized diversity training
For comparison’s sake, there’s more firearms instruction time for Florida’s Guardian Program, than there is for certification required for law enforcement professionals exiting the police academy. It’s why the hysteria from the left was absurd from the onset. The Guardian Program is the furthest thing from hap hazardly arming teachers’ as had been purported, and as headlines as recently as last week’s from the Palm Beach Post have suggested. As for what has changed since the program first went live in Florida October 1st, 2019? A lot of additional school districts have joined the program.
At the time the Guardian Program went live, 25 of Florida’s 67 school districts opted in. Obviously, there were a fair number of skeptics across the state at the onset, with far fewer than half of school districts deciding to utilize the school safety initiative. Each year, however, more school districts have grown comfortable with the program as there’s been success with the implementation of it. Most recently, 45 of Florida’s school districts had joined the program, leaving fewer than a third across the state which still were opting out. Interesting, according to the state’s website, that number now stands at 46 – listing Palm Beach County among the opt-in districts. Given that the school district has yet to take this up, it seems like someone at the state might have gotten out ahead of themselves on this one. But it would also seem that Burke must have been doing a good deal of due diligence on this in advance as well – perhaps articulating his intent to the state in the process.
Given the current composition of the school board, it’d be a bit of a surprise if they followed Burke’s guidance on entering the Guardian Program. But then again, perhaps they can see the shifting tide in the Palm Beaches as well, along with the program’s success, and vote differently in the near future. To be continued...