Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a series of new school safety measures into law Tuesday in the aftermath of the Uvalde, Texas school massacre.
The bill will require school safety agents to receive crisis intervention training, mandate districts to certify that at least 80 percent of staffers get mental health training and allow safety officers to make arrests at charter schools.
The legislation will also preserve the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, a board “formed to specifically analyze information from the school shooting and other mass violence incidents in the state and address recommendations and system improvements.”
A former student killed 17 people at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018.
“Every child needs a safe and secure learning environment,” DeSantis said in a release Tuesday. “By signing HB 1421, we continue to build on the many steps we have taken since 2019 to implement the recommendations of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Commission, while also making record investments in mental health and school safety.”
Salvador Ramos, 18, killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24.
The slayings have sparked demands for new school security and gun control measures across the country.