Many Florida schools reject arming teachers, despite Parkland Commission recommendation

LARGO, Fla. (FOX 13) - The president, some parent,s and even the appointed members of the Parkland Commission believe arming trained and qualified teachers would make schools safer.

However, on Tuesday the Hillsborough County School Board voted against giving teachers guns, and other Bay Area school districts, including Pinellas, say they're against the idea as well.

The father of a student killed in a school shooting says those school districts are wrong.

“They're making a huge mistake,” said Andrew Pollack, who lost his daughter, Meadow in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day 2018. “The training is so intense, I’d be ok if the lunch lady could pass.”

Pollack believes if someone at his daughter's school had been carrying, lives would have been saved.

But no one at the Hillsborough County School Board meeting spoke in favor of guns in the classroom.  In fact, several students were opposed.

“Giving teachers firearms is not an effective measure to decrease gun violence,” one student said.

Currently, in the state house, a bill is moving forward that would allow districts to give the OK for trained teachers to carry firearms.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a member of the Parkland Commission, says arming teachers is the new normal.

“It breaks my heart to think we have to have well-trained people on campuses with guns, but we do,” Sheriff Judd said.

Under the proposed bill, only teachers who volunteer and are trained would be allowed to carry. The bill says training would exceed the requirements for state certified law enforcement officers.