A few months after the Parkland massacre in 2018, the Florida legislature created a special commission to study the failures of that day and to find ways to prevent school shootings.
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The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission’s mandate ended on Wednesday.
The panel, chaired by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, met regularly for more than eight years, and without question, its work has transformed safety and security in Florida’s schools. From a single point of entry to more and better security cameras to police on campus, the commission’s recommendations became law.
“Every year since Parkland, we’ve had new school safety legislation, increased funding, it’s been phenomenal,” said Ryan Petty, one of the commissioners.
“Not only have we changed the trajectory of school safety in Florida, but across the nation, Florida has been a leader and a model and other states have tried to replicate what we’ve done,” added Max Schachter, who also served on the panel.
Petty and Schachter each lost children in the tragedy, in which 17 people were murdered on Valentine’s Day 2018. Since then, the commission’s work has been impacting every public school in the state. Tony Montalto also lost a child in the shooting rampage and attended nearly every meeting of the commission.
“The ability of people to come together and pass a majority of these bills in a bipartisan fashion, the support of both Gov. Rick Scott and Gov. DeSantis has been fantastic,” said Montalto, the co-founder of Stand With Parkland.
“We have changed the culture in the state of Florida, in our schools, safety is no longer this thing that we’ve gotta do to check a box,” Petty said.
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Among many changes, the commission’s work led directly to every school having a school resource officer or an armed guardian on campus, and major strides have been made in preventing school shootings by identifying at-risk kids.
“In Florida, we have threat assessment coordinators at every school district,” Schachter said. “We have a statewide threat assessment coordinator, and unlike other states, it’s not a suggestion here, or a recommendation; these are state laws.”
“We not only look at a child as a threat, but we also recognize that they need help if they’re exhibiting these concerning behaviors, right? We have a mental health coordinator now in each district,” Montalto added.
Florida, Schachter points out, spends more on school safety than any other state. Now that the commission has been ended, all three men say the work must continue at the local and state levels.
“Is it perfect? No, is there more to do? Absolutely, threats evolve, threats change,” Petty said.
The legacy of their children, Alaina Petty, Gina Montalto, and Alex Schachter, along with the other 14 victims, is safer schools in Florida and around the nation.
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