Gun violence has been on the rise affecting schools across the country. According to the American College of Surgeons and National Center for Education Statistics, there had been 328 shootings between 2020-2022; and a dramatic peak in the last 50 years, the number of school shootings have multiplied by 12.
Laws on gun regulations, such as safe storage and those with permission to purchase, may be playing a part in why shooting rates are rising.
Gun shootings themselves aren’t the only issue; America has had over 1,900 threat incidents in the 2023-2024 school year alone.
Orange County Public Schools have made it their top priority to provide students top tier safety. “Everything that we have in place is in support of ensuring the safety of everyone on campus,” principal Hector Maestre said. “So, everything that we do is an additional layer of protection, an initial layer for security purposes on our campus, to be able to keep everyone safe.”
OCPS keeps campuses on lock 24/7 preventing intruders and any potential threats from entering school grounds. Since the agreement on house bill 1437 at the beginning of the school year, OCPS has continued to keep all buildings, and entrances locked during all times aside from transitional periods.
State law permits that Florida schools have at minimum 4 active threat drills per school year. Allowing for students and staff to be prepared for any possibility. “I think the school does take some precautions regarding safety on campus however with common shootings at schools and many deaths it does make me feel somewhat uneasy on campus,” sophomore Jaslene Vasquez said.
FortifyFL is a suspicious activity reporting tool allowing for students and peers to submit tips of suspicious activity with the choice of anonymity. It’s used by thousands of schools to keep administration up to date with any potential danger. Government officials, local law enforcement, and OCPS employees receive any tips reported to Fortify to be sure that the correct measures are being taken to bring students to safety.
OCPS encourages students to keep on the lookout for any potential danger, if you see something, say something.
