DELAND, Fla. — An effort to expand Florida’s school guardian program to public colleges and universities is gaining momentum in Tallahassee.

What You Need To Know

A Florida bill would expand the school guardian program to public colleges and universities

House Bill 757 allows select postsecondary employees to be trained and armed

Supporters say the program improves prevention and response, while critics raise safety concerns

The bill has passed its first House committee and continues through the legislative process

“Having somebody on campus that’s already looking for what’s going on is huge,” said Kevin Steinmann, a school guardian in Volusia County.

Steinmann has been a guardian at his son’s high school for three years. His job is to make sure students are safe.

“Walking the perimeter, checking gates, checking doors,” Steinmann said.

House Bill 757 would allow select postsecondary employees to be trained and armed, following last year’s deadly shooting at Florida State University.

While the proposal focuses on colleges and universities, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood says the guardian program is already in place across Volusia County’s K-12 schools.

“Their main function in life is to stop an armed threat on campus,” Chitwood said.

The bill would authorize colleges and universities to participate in the guardian program, require sheriffs to assist with implementation, and mandate specific training, emergency response plans, and threat management processes.

It also increases penalties for certain crimes near schools and requires colleges to promote a suspicious activity reporting tool for mobile devices.

“I knew it would be a good program, because you can never get enough law enforcement to cover every single school and get it what it needs. There had to be an alternative way to do this,” Chitwood said.

Supporters say the bill creates both prevention and response tools, while some raise concerns about confusion during an active shooter situation and how armed guardians could affect law enforcement response.

“Just to know that there are people there to help because colleges and schools are a target for predators,” Steinmann said.

The bill unanimously passed its first House committee and still has additional stops in the legislative process. It would still need to pass the full House and Senate before heading to the governor’s desk.