SandyMaloneParkland, FL – Marjory Douglas Stoneman High School is beefing up security in the wake of several security threats on the campus that was home to a shooting rampage on Valentine’s Day.
Students will be required to carry clear plastic backpacks when they return to classes after Spring Break, instead of their usual book bags, CNN reported.
Additionally, eight Florida State troopers joined the security staff on Thursday morning at the Parkland high school where a former student shot 17 students and faculty on Feb. 14, the Orlando Weekly reported.
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Florida Governor Rick Scott offered the additional law enforcement support to Broward County after several students were arrested in two days on the campus. A Broward County deputy was caught sleeping in his marked patrol unit while assigned to secure the campus.
All the steps being taken are meant to ramp up security where one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history took place.
Students and faculty will be required to wear ID badges at all time on campus when they return to classes after the break, CNN reported.
The clear backpacks will be provided to the students free of charge.
“Clear backpacks are the only backpacks that will be permitted on campus,” said Broward County School Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a letter to parents of Marjory Stoneman Douglas students.
All classroom doors will be kept locked at all time, and all exterior gates will be locked at all time, WPTV reported.
The sheriff’s office has set up an elevated watchtower in one corner of the school’s parking lot.
The school district was evaluating whether metal-detecting wands would be an effective deterrent at the high school, or whether they needed to install permanent walk-through metal detectors at the entrances.
Almost 20 percent of the student body stayed home from school on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s news that two students had been arrested, KNXV reported.
Two Marjory Stoneman Douglas students were arrested in separate incidents after they brought knives to school with them. A third was taken into custody and put in a mental facility for a psychiatric evaluation after making threats on social media.
Zachary Cruz, the younger brother of the school shooter, was caught skateboarding at the high school on Monday after he had been told he was banned from the campus. He was also arrested.
Also on Monday, a Broward County deputy tasked with providing security at the high school was caught napping in his marked patrol car on the campus.
Broward County Sheriff’s Office Spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said Deputy Moises Carotti had been suspended with pay, pending an internal affairs investigation.
Following the series of events, the governor sent a letter to Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel expressing concern about security at the high school.
Scott demanded “immediate action be taken to require an armed law enforcement officer to secure every point of entry” of the high school “while students are on campus,” according to WFTS.
Sheriff Israel replied to the governor via Twitter, and accepted his officer of assistance.
The governor has also ordered Sheriff Israel and the Broward County school system to inform state education officials of “what other steps are being taken to keep students safe on campus,” Orlando Weekly reported.