The Flagler County School Board this evening rejected on a 3-2 vote a proposal to arm some school employees on the unfounded assumption that it would improve security. The vote ends a year-long discussion about the so-called “guardian program,” as a majority of board members still had too many questions, doubts, and lacking buy-in from school staff.
School Board Chair Cheryl Massaro and board members Colleen Conklin and Sally Hunt voted against the proposal. Will Furry and Christy Chong voted for it. Massaro and Hunt left the door open for adoption in an undetermined future. But just not yet.
“I really don’t think we’re there yet,” Massaro said, citing conversations with school principals as the tipping point for her. “One of the principals in their building has an incredible marksman, won all kinds of awards for their marksmanship and they can shoot. But then in the next breath, I was told they would never let them be guardians. I said, huh? You know, we need people that are familiar with firearms. And they proceeded to tell me: I’ve seen them in stressful situations, and they are useless. Bingo. Bingo. I like, wow. I mean, that went completely against what I had been thinking.”
Another principal reminded her of the time when a staffer and a school resource deputy broke up a fight, only for the staffer (who became a principal) later confronted the SRD, thanking him, but also telling him to not ever do it again, telling him: “Because you are the only person on campus that has a weapon. You’re the only person and if that weapon got fired during that struggle, who knows what would happen? Who knows? So that added more thought to my process here. So taking it directly to the people who would be most pivotal leads me to believe we’re not ready yet. Are we opposed to the process? Not completely.”
The school board had devoted nearly a dozen segments in previous workshops to discussing the feasibility, costs and some of the parameters of the program, and apparently had held a secret session to do so as well: state law allows school boards to hold closed-door sessions to discuss certain aspects of security, but not security policy. The secrecy is intended only to cloak tactical and operational details of a district’s safety procedures.
It isn’t clear, of course, to what extent the board hewed to those restrictions, since there is no transcript or recording of the session. But Chong cited it to justify her vote, at least in part.
“I’d say for the public’s knowledge that, and I hope it’s okay to say this, that we’ve had executive session about this topic where a lot of questions were asked and answers given,” Chong said. “That’s why you haven’t heard a lot about the details because it involves safety and our children.”
Had it been adopted, the board would have kept secret from the public, from other employees and from students who would have been armed, whether the person is qualified beyond the district’s and the Sheriff’s Office’s own (secret) evaluations, what weapon would have been in the employee’s possession and where, among other concealments. None of those concealments apply to school resource deputies.
Conklin worried about the disparity between the level of training professional law enforcement officers like sheriff’s school resource deputies and the training that armed employees would receive–132 hours. Beyond that, there’s the matter of “being able to handle high pressured situations effectively,” of the higher risk of accidents, having more guns in schools, more possibilities of students accessing guns, and the possibility that it could “make a bad situation worse.”
“I worry about the cooperation with law enforcement and whether or not that could be hampered if there is an issue on campus,” Conklin continued. “If teachers and staff members are armed it could create confusion during a shooting incident.” The program could create a culture of fear of mistrust, she said, as students and employees know that someone, somewhere, is secretly armed.
Saliently, Conklin said, “I’ve just not been able to find any evidence to suggest that school shootings have been deterred by armed teachers or staff members. In fact, there’s been incidences where armed teachers and staff members have accidentally discharged weapons or used them inappropriately putting students and other staff members at risk.”
Hunt had spent considerable time focused on school safety since her election last November, but had also raised some of the more notable questions in workshops–in contrast with Chong, who raised virtually none, and Furry, who mostly was chomping at the bit to get the program going.
“Are we today doing our best with what we have in place around safety?” Hunt asked. “Are all of our teachers following the no-doorstops? Are our campus advisors in place today, making sure that all of our exterior doors are locking properly? When that is tightened up, when I know that all Flagler school employees are given clear expectations and held accountable for those clear expectations, I know I would feel better about implementing a program like this.”
Furry, an ardent supporter of the program since his election last fall, said the implementation date of the program would not have been before the 2024-25 school year, though the resolution before the board had no such date. Neither Furry nor Chong cited any evidence that the program would improve school security, or diminish the risk of mishaps.
Still, at the end of this evening’s meeting, Massaro said the board will get there at some point.
Concerned for Our Children says
Thank you to the three members who are doing your research and asking important questions. More guns don’t bring more safety and until someone can show valid evidence to the contrary, why would we even consider this? Cheryl’s comment at the end is concerning, “We will get there.” Not sure what that means…..maybe she can clarify at a future meeting.
Skibum says
Fortunately, tonight at least, cooler heads prevailed and the correct decision was reached. School boards would be wise to leave the gun carrying to law enforcement. There are just too many things that could go wrong by having civilian school employees with loaded guns on school grounds, not least among them the uncertainty and likely hesitation by uniformed law enforcement personnel during a real active shooter incident if they are not able to tell the difference between a bad guy with a gun and a good guy with a gun. That hesitation and uncertainty by a LEO to know the difference and take quick, decisive action to end a threat could certainly result in innocent lives lost, so although this type of suggestion may be well intentioned, it is fraught with dangerous and unforeseen consequences.
TR says
Well they have no one to blame except themselves god forbid something happens to some students in one (or more) of our schools. I guess they must be thinking it could never happen here, instead of taking a lesson for the other school areas where it did happen. Unfortunately it was to late for those schools. But hey they don’t care because they probably don’t have any of their kids in any of our schools.
Michael Cocchiola says
I congratulate Cheryl Massaro, Coleen Conklin and Sally Hunt for their wise decision to get more information and look at possible options and get more buy-in to the guardian program before jumping straight into implementation.
Captain says
I agree with vote for now.It should have been better prepaid.
Laid out by our Sheriffs Dept.When fully understood by school board members.The next vote will have a different out come.
Deborah Coffey says
There is a God.
JEK says
Glad to hear it! It was an awful idea to begin with.
PDE says
It’s incredible that this proposal was even considered in the first place.
The Flagler County School Board continues to amaze me by their abject stupidity.
Not surprising that Furry and Chong voted for it.
Nyc230 says
There’s 12 deputies in total and 2 per high school , at worst they increase the number of deputies at the middle school levels by one due to the tempo on those campuses . They could easily look at providing armed uniformed guards at the elementary level which would save them
Money and add to the single deputy at those schools . They are simply not justifying the use of or need of the program in a county like this with a minimal amount of campuses … Furry has no idea what he is talking about using language such as a force multiplier …. A plain clothes person with a gun is not a force multiplier nor a deterrent . A visible physical deterrent would be an extra deputy or armed guard … and for the love of cod why would they take a cue from Suwannee county ? Hello ? Nothing but back woods hill billies up there and everyone carrying a damn gun . This was the best choice for right now instead of rushing to say they did it and the first incident they would deny all responsibility for the program
For Real says
Thank you Jesus.
Jonathan says
It’s about time they made a correct decision. A hand gun cannot protect children against someone with a AR15 listen to the news and you will see that.
Bob says
Big mistake, should arm
Laurel says
Bob: I recently watched a show about Paul McCartney and his photography. When the Beatles first came to America, Paul photographed a police officer who had pulled up next to their car. The photo showed only the officer’s hip with a holstered pistol. Paul took this picture because to him, it was an unusual sight. The cops in England didn’t wear guns.
America has lost its way.
Michael Cocchiola says
Caution makes sense. Right now, no one knows what the guardian program would look like. The devil. and the mystery is in the details.
My admiration for and thanks to Chair Massaro, Vice Conklin and member Hunt. It was a hard but wise decision to back off a bit and get more information… and more buy-in.
Shark says
How long do you think it would take to disarm one of these teachers when the students are bigger and stronger.
What Else Is New says
When is the next election?! Though the vote failed for placing weapons in schools one board member says, “We’ll get there at some point.” That is pure insanity. We will sacrifice the safety of children, teachers and staff so those right wing nuts on the school board can have their guns in schools.