SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - Newly hired armed guards set to protect students and faculty at Broward County public schools began training for the upcoming school year.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office conducted firearms training for the newly hired guards Monday morning at Markham Park in Sunrise.
The training program aims to ensure guards are ready to protect schools.
“An armed guardian is an individual with prior law enforcement, military, or corrections experience,” said Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.
7News cameras captured trainees firing round after round.
After the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the state legislature passed a bill that mandates all Florida schools have a school resource officer.
However, there’s a shortfall.
“There’s a significant amount of vacancies in Broward County of law enforcement personnel,” said Runcie. “In fact, I’ve heard the number is as high as 300.”
The guards need 132 hours of firearms training and 12 hours of diversity training. They are also undergoing a mental health evaluation.
“I left a meeting this morning with all of our principals and school administrators there,” said Runcie, “and I told them, in addition to being the education leaders of our schools, you effectively now have become the chief security administrator for each and every one of our schools, so yes, this is our new reality.”
While they will be employees of the school district, BSO is helping run the program.
“We will be supplying the guardians with their uniforms. We will be supplying the guardians with their firearms,” said Broward Sheriff Scott Israel. “We will also be doing the psychological testing.”
The guards will be used to fill a void left behind by any campus that doesn’t have an assigned officer.
As of Monday, there are only 16 guards assigned in the district, and 55 are needed.
Local law enforcement and BSO deputies said they will assume those duties until the district can provide more armed guards.
But despite the new safety measure, Israel is staggered that this is what needs to be done, all so a child can go to school and learn.
“It’s incomprehensible for me to think about the things these kids face compared to what my generation faced,” he said.
In addition to the training program, Broward students, faculty and staff will find new fencing and gates, as well as hundreds of new security cameras, when they return to school.
The first day of classes in Broward County is Aug. 15.
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