MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Dozens of Manatee County educators were put into a life or death scenario on Wednesday morning. The Manatee County Sheriff’s Office conducted a mock active shooter training at Bayshore High School.
“Even though you know it’s a drill your adrenaline is going, it’s not something I would want our kids to ever go through,” said school board member Charlie Kennedy.
Superintendent Diana Greene said the district will host several scenarios like this throughout the summer. She said current and new staff members will have to go through the scenarios.
“This is to ensure that everyone knows how to react and to ensure that we have strong communication plan,” said Greene.
The Sheriff’s Office will also train about thirty “guardian guards” before the start of school in August. The guardians will be placed in elementary schools. The current contract with the sheriff’s office will keep school resource deputies in the middle and elementary schools next school year. School board member Charlie Kennedy said he wonders if the guardian program is the right fit.
“If money were no object SRO’s are the easy call,” said Kennedy.
