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School safety changes proposed as Parkland anniversary nears

A week before the Parkland school-shooting anniversary, lawmakers in the Florida Senate have proposed plans to overhaul school-safety measures and expand a controversial program that allows school personnel to carry guns.

The Guardian Program was approved after last February’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

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The program includes putting money into training school staff to carry weapons on school grounds. Under current law, such “guardians” are staff members whose primary duties are outside the classroom.

Senate GOP leaders this week filed a bill that would allow school districts to arm classroom teachers, look to train guardians outside the counties where they would serve and allow school districts to contract with guardians through private security firms.

The proposed legislation also includes recommendations made by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, which was formed by the Legislature last year to analyze failures during the Parkland school shooting.

GOP lawmakers, for example, want to withhold superintendents’ salaries if they do not accurately report crime and safety incidents.