Florida Legislature Sends School Safety Bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s Desk

The Florida legislature has sent a School Safety bill, H.B. 1421, to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) desk, designed to enhance school safety in the wake of another national tragedy.

According to the bill’s summary, the legislation would introduce a wave of developments, including establishing school safety officers, developing “threat assessment” teams, and implementing “certain emergency drills.”

The bill’s summary reads in part:

School Safety; Revises provisions relating to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission, FortifyFL, Commissioner of Education oversight of enforcement of school safety and security requirements, Office of Safe Schools, certain emergency drills, family reunification plans, threat assessment teams, safe-school officers, DOE responsibilities, & Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool.

Lawmakers first filed the bill in January, but it was not officially presented to the governor until Wednesday, May 25 — the day after the tragic shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which left 19 children and two adults dead. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) provided an update on Friday, skipping his scheduled appearance at the National Rifle Association (NRA) conference and spending the day in Uvalde.

“I was misled,” Abbott said of the initial information he received about the police response to the shooting.

“I am livid about what happened,” he said, following reports that an hour passed before officers made it into the classroom.

“I was on this very stage two days ago and I was telling the public information that had been told to me in a room just a few yards behind, where we’re located right now. I wrote down hand notes in detail about what everybody in that room told me in sequential order about what happened, and when I came out here on this stage and told the public what happened,” Abbott said, emphasizing that it was a “recitation of what people in that room told me, whether it be law enforcement officials or non-law enforcement officials, whatever the case may be.”

“And as everybody has learned therefore, the information that I was given turned out in part to be inaccurate, and I’m absolutely livid about that,” he added, making it clear that he expects enforcement leaders and the FBI to “get to the bottom of every fact with absolute certainty.”