3 new school Guardians added
By CHARITY TUMBLESON Reporter
Three new Guardians were certified on Friday, Aug. 7.
Guardians are armed personnel in addition to School Resource Officers (SROs) to aid in the prevention or abatement of active assailant incidents on school campuses.
Nate Litowsky and Richard Moon became certified Guardians at the ceremony, along with district School Safety Officer Jim Griner, after completing the mandatory training.
Moon felt the “comraderie” was prevalent throughout the whole process, and said it “was very rewarding.”
Lenny Reid graduated from the program 3 years ago and is Guardian at Riversprings Middle School. He said after the Parkland shooting that Superintendent Bobby Pearce was very proactive in upgrading the school’s security.
“Our SROs jumped from four to 10 after that took place,” Reid said. “The training for the Guardians is mandatory across the board to be certified, no matter if you already have a law enforcement/military background.”
Capt. Jeremy Johnston, head of the Safe Schools Division and the School Resource Officer program for the sheriff’s office, emphasized the amount of training that’s put in to be certified.
“They have put in 131 hours into training and have shot over 1,800 rounds each to be certified,” Johnston said.
Alongside training, some of the newest technology provided includes a projector screen programmed to test shooting speed and accuracy with various simulations.
Of the 10 SROs in Wakulla schools – two are at Wakulla High and one is assigned to every other school campus. There are six Guardians – including one at COAST Charter School in St. Marks.
While Guardians train with SROs, the Guardians are paid by the school district (except COAST, which pays for its Guardian).
School Resource Officer Scott Rojas assisted in the training of the Guardians and gave a big shout-out to Vicki and Boonie Mitchell, and Patrick Fleming for playing a big role in the training process as well.
Sheriff Jared Miller and Major Ray Johnson attended the ceremony and handed out the certificates.
Rojas proudly said, “You all did a wonderful job and I look forward to you all being out there keeping our kids safe.”