Andrew Powell
The Senate PreK-12 Education Appropriations Committee unanimously advanced a measure 8-0 that seeks to bolster the safety of Florida’s schools.
Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess presented the bill (SB 1470) to the committee. Burgess said the legislation was designed to ensure those working in school safety roles receive consistent training.
“This strengthens Florida’s school safety efforts by improving training standards and ensuring campus security measures are realistic and effective,” Burgess said.
“The bill aligns school security guard training with Guardian program requirements, ensuring all personnel responsible for school safety receive consistent, high-quality preparation and firearms efficiency threat response, and de-escalation techniques. We’re also refining locked campus and building requirements so that security protocols apply during school supervision hours.”
Burgess also made a series of amendments to the bill. The first amendment made changes including capping training fees and establishing a Florida Institute of School Safety.
“This amendment caps the Guardian training fees at the actual cost to the Sheriff. It replaces the requirement for the Office of Safe Schools to partner with safety specialists with the requirement to convene a stakeholder work group to develop recommendations for establishing a Florida Institute of School Safety,” Burgess said.
Burgess noted that the amendment also removes the Office of Safe Schools’ list of exceptions to locked campus and classroom requirements; defines exclusive and non-exclusive zones; limits locked access points requirements to exclusive zones; adds specific exceptions to locked classrooms requirements for certain Career and Technical Education spaces and common areas; and requires that substitute teachers receive school safety protocols before they begin their first day of teaching.
“Based on the feedback at the first committee stop from some of whom were very involved in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Commission, as well as Sheriff (Bob) Gualtieri, Safe Schools and DOE, these amendments all seek to … make some changes to demonstrate that we’re listening and also that we’re reflecting the needed balance between actually being able to implement these requirements against the efficiencies and the need to maintain strong school safety standards,” Burgess said.
The other amendment would require the Florida Department of Education to establish and maintain a centralized system that integrates panic alert systems and digital maps used by public schools, charter schools and other educational institutions.
“The centralized system must receive and process alerts from the Department, approve panic alert systems and integrate digital maps, and store and provide access to historical alert data for authorized state agencies,” Burgess said. “It also requires that all public and charter schools connect their panic alerts systems to the centralized system. Panic alert systems should be interoperable with the centralized system to ensure single communication with emergency personnel.”
“A lot of school districts are using this already but there are some outliers in some areas where we want to make sure that we’re ultimately having a uniform approach across the state for efficiency and safety and swift communication response,” Burgess added.
The amendment also appropriated $450,000 in recurring funds to implement and maintain the centralized system for panic alerts and digital maps.
“There are certain things worth funding and making sure that we’re doing to keep everybody safe and to achieve that goal in the best way possible, and that’s we’re affording the recurring funding into this,” Burgess said.
Tamarac Democratic Sen. Rosalind Osgood supported the bill and applauded Burgess for adding the recurring funding, which she said will save School Boards having to cut budgets to comply with the mandate.
“Oftentimes it’s kind of overlooked, when you’re on a School Board and you have a mass shooting it’s just a really, really tough place to be. I am really grateful for the funding that’s added to this bill,” said Osgood, a former Broward School Board member.
“This bill didn’t come as an unfunded mandate to school districts, which sometimes makes it impossible to ensure safety … I think that this is responsible legislation, and it speaks to the value of the good work that we do here in the Florida Senate.”
The committee also heard another bill (SB 1472) that would require Florida law enforcement to maintain a list of security guards, while extending exemptions on public records to school security guards.
“This bill is linked to (SB) 1470, which requires the Florida Department Law Enforcement to maintain a list of certified school security guards,” Burgess said.
“This bill extends the existing public records exemption that already applies to school guardians to also cover school security guards. The public records exemption established in the bill is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act, and stands repealed on Oct. 2, 2030, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through enactment of the Florida Legislature.”
Pensacola Republican Sen. Don Gaetz asked why the exemption is needed, Burgess said the addition was made to protect the private information of school security guards from possible harassment.
The bill was passed 7-1, with Gaetz voting against. Both bills will now move to the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee.
