Florida education officials announced Monday the three school districts that will be part of a pilot program to explore the use of drones for school safety and security.
The three districts that will take part in the new Campus Guardian Angel Pilot Program are Broward, Leon and Volusia counties.
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Designed to respond faster than any human could during an active shooter situation, the nonlethal drones are capable of confronting a shooter within seconds of a threat being detected.
They were developed by a company called Campus Guardian Angels, led by Austin-based CEO Justin Marston.
“The key thing with what we’re doing is we put the drones on site already — just like the sprinkler system is there already,” Marston said. “Because we’re there already, we can respond really fast. Our goal is to respond in five seconds and be on the shooter in 15 seconds.”
Each drone is equipped with nonlethal deterrents, including piercing sirens, bright lights and loudspeakers to command suspects to surrender.
If necessary, the drones can release bursts of pepper spray or even ram into a shooter to disorient or disable them until law enforcement arrives.
Marston said his team, made up of former Navy SEALs, SWAT officers and elite drone pilots, monitors crises in real time from an operations center in Austin, Texas.
There, coordinators use a “digital twin” of each school, allowing them to guide drones through the building remotely during emergencies.
In smaller elementary schools, Marston said, a system might include 18 drones stored in six boxes throughout the building. Larger high schools could have as many as 90 drones on site.
Florida lawmakers have allocated $557,000 for the pilot program, which will determine if drones are worth the investment statewide.
School safety advocate Max Schachter, whose 14-year-old son Alex was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, said he supports the idea.
“Every parent’s worst nightmare is sending their kids to school and not having them come home,” Schachter said. “When you have a mass murderer intent on killing your son or daughter, the most important thing is that you stop the killing. Any way we can stop the murderer from hurting innocent children and staff — I’m in favor of it.”
Seventeen people were killed in the Parkland shooting, where the school resource officer did not enter the building during the attack, and deputies arrived 11 minutes after the shooting began.
Marston said the cost of the drone system averages $4 to $8 per student per month.
“Volusia County Schools is proud to be a part of the pilot for the Campus Guardian Angel Program,” said Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin. “By participating in this program, we are reinforcing our commitment to proactive safety measures and smart, coordinated response. This is another important step in ensuring our campuses not only teach students well, but also protect them well.”