Wakulla County Schools expands its Guardian program to eight guardians.
The Guardian Program is the product of legislation after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School shooting in 2018. Wakulla County Schools added 3 new members of their team this school year. Watch the video above to hear more about the program and who is protecting students.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In 2018, a gunman took the lives of 17 people in Parkland, Florida. That tragedy sparked a program to protect our students across the state.
Since then, Wakulla County Schools has brought on multiple guardians to protect our students. The head of safety here at the school explains more about the program and the 3 new members of their team.
Since the tragic events in February of 2018, eight members of our neighborhoods have been trained to serve our students. The newest members include a military veteran who served in the Middle East multiple times, a retired law enforcement officer of 30 years, and the director of school safety, who also has law enforcement experience.
During their training to become a guardian, they are trained to protect students as if they are doing it by themselves. They also learn many quick response tactics because seconds matter in these situations.
“Not only are we invested as a county, we are invested as individuals as well to conducting their and making sure they’re safe,” said Coleman Wells, Director of Safety of Student Conduct for Wakulla County Schools. “I spend every day looking, analyzing, briefing with Superintendent Myhre along with the sheriff’s office and our school guardians to ensure that our facilities and our students are safe.”
Wakulla County Schools welcomes anyone with previous military or law enforcement experience to apply to be a guardian.
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