PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Within the first month of this school year, some teachers say a new state law aimed at keeping students safe is causing issues.
The law states all schools must keep classroom, building and campus entrances and exits closed and locked when students are present.
One Pinellas County elementary school teacher says while she understands the intent of the new law, it’s just not practical and taking away from students’ learning time.
Tracey McConnell is a third-grade teacher at Pinellas Central Elementary School.
She’s also the Vice President of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association, so she’s well versed in the newest state law, aimed at keeping students safe.
"Once kids are inside in the morning, all doors have to be locked, and if a door is open, somebody has to actually be manning that door," said McConnell.
While the law seems simple enough, McConnell said there are additional issues.
"When kids would come in in the morning, if I had struggling readers, I could leave my door unlocked," she said. "Or leave something propping the door, and as kids came in, they could eat their breakfast, get on the computer, and I could pull a small group and work with them."
"Now, because of the law, in effect, I can no longer pull that group. I have 30 minutes in the morning that the only thing I can do is stand and hold the door.”
When asked about the law, and if they intended to reach out to lawmakers about it, the Pinellas County School District provided a statement saying: “At this time, two weeks into the new school year, Pinellas County Schools remains committed to following the law and keeping our kids safe.”
In the meantime, teachers like McConnell are left trying to make the best of it.
“Everybody has good intentions,” she said. “They want kids to be safe at school, teachers want kids to be safe, our legislators want kids to be safe, our big problem is the people creating the laws, didn’t stop to ask teachers what we really needed in schools to keep kids safe.”
McConnell said she feels stricter gun laws need to be in place, but even without any changes to those laws, she says keeping all doors at schools locked only protects student, and staff, from outside threats.
“We’re safe inside from anybody who could possibly come by the school, they would have to go through multiple barriers to get to the students, but the law doesn’t take into any consideration that kids can come to school with weapons,” she said.
McConnell says teachers in Pinellas County will be abiding by the law and keeping their doors locked.
She said she just hopes lawmakers will hear some teacher’s complaints and everyone can work together when it comes to keeping students safe.
Several school boards in the state say they are adding the issue to their legislative platforms to ask for clarifications or adjustments to the law.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri helped write the law.
He says statewide audits revealed some schools weren’t complying with safety guidelines and that led to these changes.
“This isn’t some onerous standard,” Gualtieri said. “This isn’t something that’s over the top. This is real simple stuff to meet the expectation of parents that when their kids go to school in the morning that we are going to return them safe in the afternoon."
“That’s all this is about.”