Bill Text: FL S7056 | 2024 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Public Records/School Guardians
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-03-04 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/CS/HB 1509 [S7056 Detail]
Download: Florida-2024-S7056-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2024 CS for SB 7056 By the Committees on Rules; and Education Pre-K -12; and Senator Calatayud 595-03601-24 20247056c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to public records; amending s. 30.15, 3 F.S.; providing that certain information relating to 4 school guardians held by the Department of Law 5 Enforcement, a law enforcement agency, a school 6 district, or a charter school is exempt from public 7 records requirements; providing for future legislative 8 review and repeal of the exemption; providing a 9 statement of public necessity; providing a contingent 10 effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1. Subsection (6) is added to section 30.15, 15 Florida Statutes, to read: 16 30.15 Powers, duties, and obligations.— 17 (6) Any information held by the Department of Law 18 Enforcement, a law enforcement agency, a school district, or a 19 charter school that would identify whether an individual has 20 been certified to serve as a school guardian is exempt from s. 21 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. This 22 subsection is subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act 23 in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed on October 24 2, 2029, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through 25 reenactment by the Legislature. 26 Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public 27 necessity that any information held by the Department of Law 28 Enforcement, a law enforcement agency, a school district, or a 29 charter school that would identify whether an individual has 30 been certified to serve as a school guardian is exempt from s. 31 119.07(1), Florida Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the 32 State Constitution. School security and student safety are 33 fundamental priorities in this state, as is the safety of people 34 serving or who have served as school guardians. School guardians 35 serve a critical role as safe-school officers and first 36 responders, and their presence on school grounds serves as a 37 deterrent against incidents threatening the lives of students 38 and school personnel. Disclosure of the identity of persons 39 certified as school guardians might undermine such deterrence 40 and may compromise their safety along with the safety of 41 students by allowing ill-intentioned persons to compare the 42 records of certified school guardians to information concerning 43 school employees to discern whether a person has been appointed 44 to serve as a school guardian. The public disclosure of such 45 information would also adversely affect their ability to 46 adequately respond to an active assailant incident, as an 47 assailant might be alerted in advance that a particular 48 individual is certified as a school guardian. Furthermore, 49 school guardians who have been appointed to that position might 50 leave their appointment for a period of time while maintaining 51 their certification, and, thereafter, be reappointed at a future 52 date. The safety of such persons would be compromised if their 53 status as school guardians became public record by virtue of 54 their continued certification. Accordingly, it is necessary to 55 protect the identity of persons certified as school guardians 56 from public records requirements in order to effectively and 57 efficiently implement the purpose and intent of school guardian 58 programs. 59 Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date that 60 SB 1356 or similar legislation takes effect, if such legislation 61 is adopted in the same legislative session or an extension 62 thereof and becomes a law.