Arming school staff? Lee County schools considering it

Note to readers: This story has been updated to reflect that teachers will not be able to participate in the guardian program.

The Lee County School District will move forward with the creation of a policy that will allow school staff members to carry a gun on campus.

If the Lee County School Board approves the policy, staff can enroll in Florida's Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program, which is designed to train armed school staff to help school police officers in the event of a threat on campus. The program was established after the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School that left 17 people dead.

The Lee County School District said teachers and other staff members who work in a classroom will not be able to become guardians.

So far, 46 of the state's 67 county school districts currently participate in the program. Collier County has not voted to participate in the program.

At a meeting Tuesday, 12 people spoke during public comment on the resolution passed unanimously by the board that directs staff to create the policy, and only two were in favor of the program. Teachers, parents and community members argued that adding more guns to campus would not make them, or their students, feel safer.

"Allowing more guns on campus does not make me as a teacher or a parent feel like a campus is more safe," said Noel Hercek, who has been a teacher for 23 years. "I find it alarming... The shortage of teachers is going to increase. This makes us feel very, very unsafe."

Andrew White, a parent of a Lee County elementary student whose wife is a teacher in the district, is firmly against the guardian program. He said he worries about the teachers having targets on their backs to be assaulted by students who go after the gun.

"I know for an absolute certainty, the heart of teachers, you will find people who will gladly throw themselves in front of a bullet if you ask them to," White said. "You are absolutely escalating this. You are saying to the teachers, please be human shields, please accept the responsibility that you will have to shoot a child in your care."

The two community members in favor of the program argued that teachers who want to take up arms to protect their students should have the opportunity.

"We can talk about teachers being willing to die for their students, give them shield," Robert Daniels said. "If you have people who are willing to live with the PTSD and protect the students, then yes, do it."

Increase in weapons, threats of violence

The push for the program comes now because of an increase in social media threats of violence and weapons in Lee County Schools, as well as swatting — the act of making false calls to emergency services in an attempt to get a large number of law enforcement to a specific location.

School board member Chris Patricca has a son who attends South Fort Myers High School, which this year has been targeted by swatting efforts.

"I sit here as a parent that's been in those shoes, thinking that my kid was in a building with gunshots and other dead kids," Patricca said, taking a pause to collect herself. "I don't know yet that I fully support this because the policy has not come in front of the board."

Weapons found in schools on rise: 'Students should never have to worry about their safety'

In the 2021-22 school year, Lee schools recorded 81 incidents linked to weapons possession, according to data compiled by the Florida Department of Education. That's a nearly 69% increase from the 48 reported in the 2020-21 school year and a nearly 119% increase from the 37 reported in the 2019-20 school year.

This school year alone, three students at South Fort Myers High School have been arrested for bringing a gun on campus. During the week of Valentine's Day, the anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, two students were arrested and there were three threats of gun violence in Lee schools.

In contrast, the Collier County School District, which does not have a guardian program, reported 36 incidents in the 2021-22 school year, the data states. That's an increase of 12.5% from the 32 incidents in the 2020-21 school year and a 157% increase from the 14 incidents in the 2019-20 school year.

Gun arrest at school: Third South Fort Myers High School student arrested for gun on campus

Gun threat: South Fort Myers High given all clear following gun threat, all 67 Lee Schools searched

While Board Member Cathleen Morgan voted to support the resolution, she said she is very uncomfortable moving forward.

"I'm not happy that it's come to this that we have to put people in the scope that we were even talking about putting people in the school with guns. I think that's all wrong," Morgan said. "I think the focus is wrong. I think the focus needs to be on all of the preventative strategies particularly with respect to staff training, student training, etc."

How would the program work?

If the board approves a guardian program policy, school staff who wish to participate will need to undergo extensive training provided by the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

The training would include 12 hours of diversity training, 132 hours of firearms safety and proficiency training. Candidates would also need to pass a psychological evaluation and a drug test. If they are approved to become a guardian, they will need to complete ongoing training, weapon inspection and firearm qualification annually.

If a candidate fails any part of the application process they will be barred from the program, the resolution states.

Vice-Chair Sam Fisher, who said he fully supports the program, stressed that should a policy pass they would not pressure or force any teachers to participate.

"This is volunteer only. Nobody should be pushed into this, it should be only people that want to step up and do this," he said. "I want to make that clear, there will be no pressure from anyone up here."

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida school district considers allowing school staff to carry guns