PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Facing a setback that privately-trained guards cannot go into charter schools, the Palm Beach County School District says those guards will now be retrained by the sheriff.
“Our first thought process and reaction was to figure how will we continue to provide security,” says Ed Tierney, Chief of Staff for the school district.
Tierney says protection for all schools will be covered by police and deputies as they work to have those guards go through state guardian training with the Palm Beach County Sheriff.
On Wednesday, the sheriff determined the private training for the guards did not meet the standards of the new guardian law after the state’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas Safety Commission objected to the private training.
“It’s actually worse, corners were cut documentation was missing and certainly the spirit of the training the guardians should get was inadequate,” says Ryan Petty, a commission member and father of a victim in the shooting at MSD High School.
Among the findings in the probe was that marksmanship testing was below requirements set by the guardian law.
School Chief of Staff Ed Tierney says the district decided to go with privately-trained guards after facing a tight deadline under a complex law.
“We arrived at a plan we thought was the highest level of security for all our students and staff,” Tierney says.