Discussion on whether — and how — the School District of Lee County could boost an armed presence on school campuses continued this week with more talk on a possible Guardian Program.

If implemented, such a program would be used as a “force multiplier” alongside the district’s School Resource Officer program school board members were told Monday.

“This a force multiplier, not to replace the SRO,” Safety & Security and Emergency Management Executive Director David Newlan said. “We have a great relationship with law enforcement agencies. We are very fortunate, in my opinion, because we are able to have two (SROs) in our high schools and one in our middle and elementary schools in Lee County.”

Newlan, who served as the chief of police with the Cape Coral Police Department before his retirement with the city, said those who serve in a “guardian” position would have a great responsibility.

“That is hard to fill because of the requirements and liability. We are very fortunate to have this discussion as force multiplier, but our schools are covered,” Newlan said.

The Coach Aaron Feis Guardian Program was established in 2018 through the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The program intended to train current staff already on campuses, possibly to include those without assigned students, to fulfill the role of security without incurring any additional costs for schools.

Newlan said the Guardian Program requirements include passing a psychological and drug screening, completing a minimum of 144 hours of training, 80 or more with high liability firearm training.

The funding would come from a grant that the Lee County sheriff would need to apply for to cover operating expenses, such as training, weapons, uniforms, equipment and retention holders. Newlan said the grant would not include salaries.

What is currently available to the school district right now is the Safe School Allocation, which is used for the School Resource Officer program. Newlan said the funding currently does not even cover half of the personnel costs, resulting in the school district supplementing the remaining costs from the General Fund.

He said allocation funding that the district received from the state was $5.1 million for FY22. The statewide total allocation for FY22 was $180 million.

Newlan said this year they are looking at spending $1.7 million to supplement costs, bringing the total to $6.1 million. He said the SRO program is based on municipalities, which also sees their costs go up, which creates a moving number each year.

Guardian Program statewide statistics

The presentation also broke down Florida districts using the Guardian Program.

There are 3,785 schools in Florida, of which 2,997 have a law enforcement officer assigned to a school. There are 1,384 schools that have Guardians assigned to them.

There are 45 school districts that use the Guardian Program, while 22 do not use the program. There are 19 districts which use the Guardian Program to supplement SROs and 26 districts using only the Guardian Program.

In addition, there are 22 districts with Guardians employed who have no other responsibility.

“We talk about taking a current position and applying to the Guardian Program. What happens to the current position?” Newlan asked.

The data also showed that there are 20 districts with Guardians that have no uniform or other identifying clothing, while six have some and 19 have uniforms.

“Every district has their own story as far as why they use the Guardian Program. Some use the combination often times because of the cost of the SRO. They may keep SRO in high school and middle, but put Guardian in elementary based on funding,” he said. “The other problem is they can’t hire enough law enforcement to cover the schools.”

Newlan said by statute, a law enforcement officer is required, as well as a Threat Assessment Team. He said if you have a Guardian only assigned to a school, the district would still need to have a law enforcement officer assigned to the Threat Assessment Team at the school.

Benefits and Challenges

Although there are both benefits and challenges for the Guardian Program, Newlan offered quite a few more challenges to the board.

The three benefits include in-service training cost and equipment covered by a grant, and a Guardian would be a force multiplier to assist SROs already in the schools and finally, if the district were to hire their own Guardian they could set their own policy of the Guardian’s responsibilities.

The challenges are numerous with one being how to fund the salary and benefits for the Guardian Program. If using an existing position as administrative staff they would be eligible for a $500 stipend.

Newlan asked what happens when strapping a firearm on someone that has a current position in the district, or what does it look like when they focus on looking for an acting assailant on the property?

“How many schools do we have? How many are we going to staff and is that realistic”” Newlan asked the board.

Another challenge falls into the training.

“In a high, very tense situation, muscle memory is very important. Repetitive training over and over again, so (they) can respond effectively and efficiently,” Newlan said.

He said with a force multiplier, the more the better, in his personal opinion, is not always the case. Newlan said he would want Guardians working with him to be trained as well as he.

“One hundred forty four hours of training does not make you qualified,” he said. “Law enforcement does make mistakes. As much as they train, they make mistakes. It’s a big commitment.”

In addition, he personally feels that Guardians should be identified in uniform with firearm standardizations. He said while chief Of the CCPD, it did not matter what gender, police officers carried the same equipment, the same belt, with their firearm located in the same position.

“How do you want them to carry it? With a retention holster it is harder to remove the gun. We don’t want the firearm falling out, taken by a student,” Newlan said, adding again that muscle memory is important for where that firearm is positioned.

In addition, what happens to the current employment status if they want to become a Guardian if they do not pass the screening?

Newlan asked if it would be effective if the district asked the employee to do both duties, being a Guardian and continuing their current duty. He asked if they would want them just doing the act of a Guardian, which is to stop the active assailant.

Newlan said if the district used the Guardian Program and used an existing employee, it would not be someone who teaches any students.

Board comments

Many board members shared that they are happy with what they are doing currently, having SROs in district schools.

“The challenges outweigh the benefits, especially when it came to the discussion points of law enforcement being required. We are in pretty good shape because we have a sharing of cost. I appreciate the opportunity to bring it back to the table, however I think we need to take a look at current status,” Board member Mary Fischer said. “I am still looking at the fact that with all the increasing Baker Acts and fights at school, I am a lot more comfortable with our professional law enforcement to be able to respond.”

Board member Betsy Vaughn said she did not support an implementation of the Guardian Program.

“It’s about community relationships,” she said of having SROs. “So many of our kids are living in communities where they see shootings and see violence. It’s so helpful to be building those community relationships with the kids and parents as well.”

Board member Melisa Giovannelli, on the other hand, believes the Guardian Program could be used to enhance the district’s SRO program.

“We did meet with the sheriff and he is very supportive of it. He did agree with it. I think it is important to enhance our SRO program. We have several security positions at every school. Why couldn’t those positions be Guardians?” she asked.

When listening to law enforcement discuss the Parkland shooting, Giovannelli said if a Guardian would have been there, lives would have been saved that day.

“This wasn’t just because ‘Hey, let’s have Guardians.’ There was a tragedy that saw a need. Reactive, unfortunately, instead of proactive. There have been a lot of instances lately with students coming to school with guns. They are getting in there. There is that day that no-one knows and it happens and I am in fear of that,” Giovanneli said.

Newlan said what Guardians can do is very limited, as they are citizens who are able to carry a gun to stop an active assailant.

Newlan was tasked with coming back to the board with additional information regarding the Guardian Program to see if it is something the district should pursue.