Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to spend millions of dollars on school security measures to protect students from active shooters.

DeSantis is proposing $64 million for “school hardening” in higher education facilities as part of his $117 billion budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2026-27.

Of that, $44 million would go to state colleges and $20 million would be slotted for universities, said Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas. Kamoutsas added at last week’s press conference that the money would be spent on installing locks on classrooms.

The shooting at Florida State University this April helped spark the push for better security measures. Some students and faculty discovered as they were trying to protect themselves that classrooms could not be locked from the inside. The FSU shooting killed two people and injured others.

DeSantis is also calling to spend $6 million to expand the Guardian Program at state colleges and universities.

“This funding for school safety will ensure that students continue to have the resources needed to maintain safe and secure campuses statewide,” Kamoutsas said alongside DeSantis at the press conference last week in Orlando to unveil the Governor’s priorities. 

The Guardian Program, which allows armed security guards at K-12 schools, was created after the 2018 Parkland high school shooting.

Some public school leaders have argued that they prefer to hire law enforcement officials from their local Police Department or Sheriff’s Office as school resource officers, instead of turning to security guards. The challenge, however, is that many school districts are also grappling with budget struggles.

Meanwhile, under DeSantis’ proposed budget plan, K-12 public schools would get $42 million, a $20 million increase, for school hardening and improving security.

To invest in upgraded school security technology, DeSantis budgeted more than $6 million for school districts to access a mobile panic alert system to connect with multiple agencies in case of an emergency.

DeSantis also wants to spend $450,000 on the Alyssa’s Alert Panic Button, which his budget described as “a centralization system that will be used by public emergency responders that will receive alerts from all panic alert alarm systems and integrate digital maps used by public schools, charter schools, and other educational institutions.”

DeSantis unveiled his “Floridan First” budget last week ahead of the upcoming Legislative Session, where he also called for teacher and law enforcement pay increases, more cancer research funding and accelerating road construction projects in congested areas.

It was a very good year for the Florida State Parks Foundation, as the organization hit yet another record in terms of annual financial impact.

The nonprofit is dedicated to championing and promoting the Florida State Parks system for everyone to use. This year, the Foundation managed to engineer $2.187 million in total funding impact, which accounts for money from both external and internal sources that’s allocated to projects across the state.

External sources include grants, community partners and sponsorships, and grassroots donors. That makes up the majority of the group’s financial impact. Internal funding comes from the Foundation’s own annual budget allocation and typically goes toward recurring programs, such as Park Impact Grants, or for grant match requirements.

The organization has broken its funding record for four straight years now, bringing the total financial impact to more than $8 million since 2022.

Foundation Board President Matt Caldwell said the funding has been well spent on preservation, protection and sustainability for Florida’s parks across the state.

“It is an honor and privilege to serve our state parks, and we are proud to have made a major impact throughout the last 12 months,” Caldwell said. “It’s incredibly rewarding to look back and see the sheer volume and variety of projects, initiatives, campaigns and events that the Foundation has supported in 2025.”

The Foundation was established in 1993 and was initially named the Friends of Florida State Parks until 2018, when it was revised to its current moniker. The organization is dedicated to improving and promoting the 175 state parks in Florida and coordinates with an estimated 20,000 park volunteers.

There were some major triumphs for the Foundation this year. Among those was the involvement of the full-scale reconstruction of Fort Mose at the state park of the same name in St. Augustine. The Delores Barr Weaver Legacy Funds contributed $250,000 to state parks through the Foundation for developing habitat for manatees at Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. And the Foundation provided a fleet of new e-bikes for use by park rangers as part of a statewide partnership among other accomplishments.

“Our state parks are the best in the nation, and they raise the bar each and every year,” said Julia Gill Woodward, CEO of the Florida State Parks Foundation. “We are proud to work alongside them every single day, and we are already looking ahead to what will surely be an amazing year in 2026.”