Brevard County School Board moves forward for armed guardians on campus

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — The Brevard County School Board made a move that clears the way for schools to have armed guardians on campuses for the first time.

▶ WATCH CHANNEL 9 EYEWITNESS NEWS

The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office will train them.

Sheriff Wayne Ivey said teachers and instructional staff won’t be guardians.

He said only employees who are not assigned to a classroom are eligible to become guardians and this is a voluntary program.

Read: Parents challenge law that targets removed school books

“My first-round draft pick is the person that’s on that campus that’s not a classroom teacher, that is former law enforcement, somebody that’s been around weapons a large part of their life,” Ivey said.

Channel 9 asked him more about the Brevard County School Board vote that will effectively expand his agency’s Sheriff Training Onsite Marshall Program.

It will include school district personnel qualified to serve as armed guardians, despite one school board member’s request to table the issue.

Read: Seminole County adds penny sales tax to November ballot

“Do you honestly think that from October of last year in a public board meeting to now June that the average citizen has this on their mind and know this is taking place today?” Jennifer Jenkins, a school board member said.

Under Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, every Brevard public school already has an assigned resource officer or a school safety specialist. But they don’t have a guardian.

Ivey said over 100 people in the school system have already applied to become guardians.

They will be vetted, and qualified applicants will be provided with 170 hours of training.

Training could begin as soon as next month, and the sheriff would like to see these guardians in place for the 2024-2025 school year.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.

©2024 Cox Media Group