Suit targets guardian program: Arming school safety assistants will make Duval County elementary schools more dangerous, according to a lawsuit filed this week that aims to stop the program. Three parents and four students, backed by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, the Southern Poverty Law Center and two law firms, claim the assistants are inadequately trained and arming them puts students at risk. Duval and several other counties hired safety guardians to comply with state law because they say they couldn't afford sworn law enforcement officers for every school. Florida Times-Union. WJXT. WJAX. Gradebook. Florida Phoenix. WJCT. Associated Press. Politico Florida. Education Week. Southern Poverty Law Center.
Bill aims at lead in schools: A bill is filed in the Florida Senate that would require Florida schools built before 1986 to install water filters to reduce lead in drinking water. S.B. 66 was filed by Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation. Several Florida districts have installed filters after reports of lead contamination in drinking water in schools, but most districts do not even test for lead. WFTS. (more…)
