SUWANNEE COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - Students in Suwannee County walked through the halls for their first day of school on Friday and they are the first school district in our area to say yes to arming employees.
Volunteers have been fully vetted, which includes background checks, a psychological test, and more than 130 hours of training.
Malcolm Hines, Safety and Security Director for Suwannee County, says it's a group of trained individuals who will add an extra layer of protection to schools in case of an active shooter.
"I'm very confident that the program itself will prove an dictionaries layer of security in a response to an active shooter," said Hines. "I pray to god we never have to deal with that. In the event that we do I feel that we are better prepared and I feel like when people hear about the program that might be enough deterrence to second guess their effort of coming in to harm our kids."
Hines would not identify how many K-12 schools are involved for safety reasons.
