PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — Fox 4 was in Charlotte County as kids got ready for their first day of school on Thursday.
There are some changes for the new school year for students within Charlotte County Public Schools.
The school year started off with a brand new Superintendent, Mark Vianello. He took over the job in June and came from Marion County.
Fox 4 spoke to Vianello during his first few days on the job. He said he's focused on student investment after graduation, and aligning school programs with the workforce.
"It's them leaving with a well-thought-out coordinated plan of what's next for them," he said.
All CCPS students grades K-12 will be required to have student IDs that they wear throughout the school day. The district said this will help improve the safety and security of students and help them respond to critical situations in an emergency.
As the new Superintendent was taking over in June, the Charlotte County School Board approved the new Guardian Program. It was established by the state after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Shooting in 2018 and allows the district to hire armed security guards.
"That is a tool that can help keep our students and our employees and our visitors to our schools safe," Vianello said in June.
Charlotte County Public Schools said they are working on laying out the logistics for the program. They say each school in Charlotte County has a School Resource Officer and unarmed security guards. Those unarmed security guards are employed by CCPS and will eventually be the designated armed guardians under the program. The district said most of the guards have previous law enforcement or military experience. They expect those security guards to be armed as guardians for the 2024-2025 school year.
