Florida's Guardian program - Updated - More school districts using the program
Bottom Line: At the start of the school year just seven school districts statewide allowed for full access of the state’s Guardian program. That number now stands at 11 as four additional districts have opened the option to school employees, including teachers over the past month. A total of 38 school districts now enable at least some portion of the Guardian program - though not in South Florida.
This information was provided as an update by the state on Monday and upon further review revealed the following...
- 3 districts have enabled Guardians that are private security guards
- 11 school districts have enabled full use of the new state Guardian law allowing any eligible school employee to enter the Guardian program provided they can successfully complete the state requirements (which happen to be generally more extensive than police academy requirements in Florida)
- 18 school districts are allowing Guardians in schools but only provided they have no other duties
- 25 school districts have opened the program to non-full-time classroom teachers
As you can see the new state law has led to a bit of every possibility playing out across the state. The state did say it would not specify who’d entered and/or completed the Guardian program though they would provide overall numbers. The initial update shows 1,084 Guardians throughout Florida’s schools thus far. Importantly, we’ve seen movement in non-South Florida school districts as parents have engaged school boards. It’s no doubt an uphill battle in South Florida but if you’d like to see change – that's at a minimum going to be required.