ORLANDO, Fla. – With students in most Central Florida school districts heading back to school on Monday, August 12, there are new safety measures in effect across the state of Florida.
In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1473 into law aimed at bolstering school security across the state.
According to the Florida Department of Education, the changes below went into effect July 1.
School Board Duties:
- All gates and other campus access points must remain closed and locked when students are on campus.
- Exceptions are limited to placing an attendant at an open gate or unlocked door while students are on campus.
- Classrooms must be locked, or actively staffed, during class time, and for classrooms to have the safest part of the room marked.
- All instructional spaces must have clearly marked safest areas for student sheltering.
- Students must be notified of these areas within the first 10 days of the school year.
- Where marking these areas is not feasible, the school safety specialist or designee must document that, and identify where students must shelter in an emergency.
- Each school must maintain a record that is accessible on each campus or by request of OSS of all current school year and prior school year drills, including the names of law enforcement personnel present on campus for each active assailant emergency drill.
- Each district school board and charter school governing board must adopt a progressive discipline policy for personnel who knowingly violate school safety requirements.
Guardian Program:
- Former law enforcement officers can serve as Guardians.
- Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) will maintain data related to school Guardians.
- FDOE will provide FDLE records of safeschool officers who have been disciplined, dismissed or that have discharged their firearm.
- Private schools seeking to participate in the guardian program are responsible for costs associated with background screening in addition to costs associated with training, but authorizes the sheriff providing the training to waive the costs.
- An individual certified and in good standing with the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission is exempt from the required school guardian training.
Drones:
A person may not knowingly or willfully:
- Operate a drone over a public or private PK-12 school, or allow a drone to make contact with a school, or any person or object on campus.
FortifyFL:
- Each district school board and charter school governing board must ensure that instruction on the use of the FortifyFL is provided to students within the first 5 days of each school year. FortifyFL is a suspicious activity reporting tool that allow users to relay information to law enforcement agencies and school officials.
Student in Custody:
- If a dual enrolled student is taken into custody for certain serious offenses, the superintendent or designee must notify the police chief or safety director of the postsecondary institution within one business day.
Office of Safe Schools:
- By August 1, 2024, OSS must develop and adopt a Florida school safety compliance inspection report.
- OSS will conduct triennial, unannounced inspections of all public and public charter schools while school is in session.
- OSS will investigate reports of noncompliance with school safety requirements.
- OSS has 3 days post-inspection to provide the report to certain district and school staff; recipients have 1 school day to acknowledge receipt.
- The school safety specialist, charter school administrator or designee has 3 days to provide OSS notice of how noncompliance has been remediated.
- OSS must provide quarterly reports to superintendents and school safety specialists with data on which schools were inspected and which had no school safety requirement deficiencies.
- Additionally, the school safety specialist must report quarterly to the superintendent and school board on any noncompliance with school safety laws or rules.
- OSS will provide bonuses to the school principal or charter school administrator of each school that complies with all school safety requirements.
- The Office must also refer any staff to the superintendent or charter school administrator for disciplinary action if they knowingly violate the new access control requirements in this legislation.
- Annually, OSS must notify all administrative and instructional personnel via email of these new access control requirements