Orlando, FLA. – More teachers are calling it quits.
It’s a problem here in Florida and in districts from Alaska to Maine, made worse by the pandemic.
In fact, new research from Chalkbeat shows teacher turnover hit a new high in 2022 with respondents reporting feeling underappreciated, overwhelmed and burnt out.
With hundreds of vacancies, school leaders in Volusia county are trying a new approach this summer to make sure classrooms are staffed.
The district hosted a school job fair in Daytona Beach today, the third in recent weeks.
At one of those job fairs last month, News 6 reporter Emily McLeod learned more than half of the positions they need to fill were instructor-based roles.
Retaining Teachers
Whether kids are in school or on break, leaders are always looking for solutions to the teacher shortage.
But hiring is only half the battle.
Retaining teachers can be even more challenging.
Solutionaries Reporter Erik Sandoval found a school changing the system by forming long-lasting relationships with its employees.
School Safety
Over the years, deadly school shootings have transformed how districts approach safety for their students and staff.
Though mass shootings at schools are still rare, many teachers do not feel secure in their own classrooms.
Now, a new survey shows teachers are split about whether arming themselves could prevent the next school shooting.
The Rand Corporation survey also found teachers think it’s important to have a system where threats can be reported and addressed.
In Florida, leaders have found solutions like P3 Campus, an app that allows students and staff to file police reports from their smartphones.
Another app called Fortify Florida was developed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after the Parkland school shooting as a tool to report threats.
Florida Guardian Program
It’s the Parkland tragedy that prompted the state legislature to approve a sweeping safety measure that requires all schools in Florida to have at least one school resource officer or armed school guardian.
The program was then expanded to allow tested and trained teachers to be armed on campus.
Under the law, Florida school districts may choose to participate in the Coach Aaron Feis School Guardian program.
The Lake and Volusia county school districts were early adopters of the program.
Producer Katrina Scales spoke with leaders in charge of security in those districts to learn about how the program has grown and changed since the Parkland and Uvalde, Texas school shootings.
“I did not want to be in a position where I could’ve done something and wasn’t able to,” said Director of Safety and Security for Lake County Schools Joseph Mabry.
Mabry is one of the district’s 47 school guardians — none of which are classroom teachers. Instead, the district only utilizes administrative personnel, such as principals, assistant principals or those with a managerial role within the district.
Lake County also hires “safe school officers” to protect students and staff.
“Former law enforcement, security guard experienced individuals,” Mabry said.
The training for this role is intense.
In 2022, the district gave News 6 viewers an up-close look at shooting simulations in real* classrooms.
“It’s important to note that the firearm proficiency standards for safe school officers are actually higher than of law enforcement officers through the FDLE guidelines,” Mabry said. “So the expectations to become a safe school officer are very high.”
Volusia County has similar, rigorous standards.
“It’s a pretty intense training but at the same time we also throughout the school year mentally prepare the guardians for anything that could come up so that they’re ready and can handle a crisis at any time,” said Captain Todd Smith, the Director Of Safety and Security for Volusia County Schools.
Unlike the armed officers captured on video hesitating in the hallway during the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Smith said his team is always ready to act.
“They need to consistently push forward, the need to never quit, they need to ensure they’re going to act in a time of crisis and that they’re going to behave like they were trained to behave,” said Smith.
Being a school guardian in Volusia County is a full-time job; there are no armed classroom teachers or administrative personnel.
“We have a lot of guardians in our schools and all they focus on is making sure everything is secure... that is their only duty is to make sure anything suspicious is reported immediately,” said Chastity Burke, Security Operations Coordinator for Volusia county schools.
Both Lake and Volusia county districts fortify schools in other ways aside from armed guards, including mental health services for students.
Fast Facts
How many armed school guardians are in your child’s school district? Here’s data from Central Florida districts that participate in the Coach Aaron Feis School Guardian program.
If your local district isn’t listed, that means they likely employ school resource officers (SROs).
Marion County:
Approximately 30 school guardians and all work in various roles. The district would not provide specific numbers about armed personal citing confidentiality risks.
Volusia County:
Over 90 school guardians are hired for the specific purpose of serving as school guardians.
Lake County:
There are 47 school guardians with five vacancies expected to be filled for the 2023-24 school year. The majority of guardians are non-uniformed administrators/supervisors.
Sumter County:
Did not disclose any information about school guardians citing confidentiality concerns.
Brevard Schools:
We received no response to our request for information in time for this story, however, the district’s website offers many details about the program’s implementation.
A new episode of Solutionaries is available every Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. on News 6 and on News 6+ for your smart TV (Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, Google TV).
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