East Volusia News

GAINESVILLE, Fla.—Governor Ron DeSantis recently highlighted Florida's achievements in maintaining order and ensuring student safety on campuses. He contrasted the state's approach with others, where he said college campuses were allowed to be vandalized and taken over by antisemitic agitators.

“In Florida, we prioritize order and student safety on campus,” Governor DeSantis stated. “While other states allowed their college campuses to be vandalized and taken over by antisemitic agitators, Florida held the line.”

Executive Director of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles Dave Kerner added that the Florida Highway Patrol is committed to protecting citizens from unlawful criminal actions and antisemitic behavior that threaten campus safety.

“Under the leadership of Governor DeSantis, we were able to maintain law and order by taking necessary security measures," said Chancellor of the State University System of Florida Ray Rodrigues. He emphasized that campus presidents had every resource at their disposal to protect all students.

In addition to ensuring campus safety, Governor DeSantis directed colleges and universities in Florida to ensure commencement ceremonies are not canceled or disrupted. He also announced support for budgetary items aimed at providing student safety funding, including $569 million for K-12 school safety funding; $20 million each for Jewish Day Schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

Since 2019, Governor DeSantis has invested a total of $1.4 billion for all K-12 student safety initiatives for public school and Jewish Day School campuses. This includes nearly $196 million for school hardening and over $43 million for security guards and security infrastructure at Jewish Day Schools.

This week, Governor DeSantis signed HB 1473, which makes improvements to school safety across the state. Among other things, this bill requires classroom doors and gates to be locked at all times; streamlines the process for former law enforcement officers to become school guardians; mandates instruction to students on using the Fortify Florida tool, which is the state’s anonymous tip reporting tool; and prohibits the operation of a drone over a school campus or Jewish Day School.

Following the terror attacks in Israel on October 7th, Governor DeSantis directed the State University System of Florida and the Florida College System to waive certain transfer application requirements for Jewish students at schools in other states who have a well-founded fear of antisemitic persecution at their current institution.

Florida is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the number one state in the country for education for the second year in a row. The state is also ranked number one in the country for higher education for the eighth consecutive year.