What to Know
- Broward County is one of several across the state that have rejected the idea of being part of the plan.
One of the parents who lost their child in the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is set to become an honorary school guardian in a Central Florida county on Wednesday.
Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was one of the 17 people killed inside the Parkland school on February 14, 2018, will become a member of the program in Polk County, according to NBC affiliate WFLA-TV.
Petty has been a vocal supporter of the program signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis that allows teachers to be armed in school if they work in a school district that allows them to go through voluntary training.
“We are in awe of his commitment to this program and are more than happy to help him fulfill this dream of his to honor his daughter’s memory,” Sheriff Grady Judd, who helped push for the program while also serving as a member of the MSD Public Safety Commission, told the station.
Broward County is one of several across the state that have rejected the idea of being part of the plan, a move Petty hopes will change in the future.
“We have the ability in Florida to secure our schools, so why wouldn’t we do that?” Petty said.
