Hillsborough County school leaders reject bill to arm teachers

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - School board members in Hillsborough County voted unanimously to adopt a resolution rejecting Senate Bill 7030, which seeks to arm teachers in Florida.

The bill is an expansion to the Guardian Program school security regulations put in place following the shooting massacre at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The expansion would have made teachers who spend a majority of time in classroom eligible to carry a firearm.

Last March, board members held a similar vote where they chose not to participate in certain parts of the program, specifically allowing certain school employees to arm themselves on campus. The vote came about a month after the deadly shooting in Parkland, Florida.  Hillsborough County School Board members are poised to reject the idea again one year later. 

The Hillsborough County School District chose to work with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office to supply trained school resource officers.