SB 896 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

School Safety

Summary

School Safety; Requiring sheriffs to assist public postsecondary educational institutions in implementing guardian programs under certain provisions; authorizing public postsecondary educational institutions to participate in the school guardian program; creating the offense of discharging a weapon or firearm within 1,000 feet of a school, etc.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 11, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

S 896 c1 → S 896 c2 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was updated from the first committee substitute to the second, reflecting a revision in the committee's work. The most significant substantive change is the clarification of who can serve as a school guardian at public postsecondary institutions; the new version explicitly excludes students from eligibility, ensuring only employees or faculty members may participate. Other changes are primarily technical, including updates to the bill's version number, committee assignments, and formatting of the text.

Scope change

The bill's scope regarding who can serve as a school guardian was narrowed to exclude students, while the scope regarding the bill's committee origin was expanded to include the Appropriations Committee.

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that only employees or faculty members (who are not students) of public postsecondary institutions may serve as school guardians, removing ambiguity about student eligibility.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill header to reflect that it is now the second committee substitute (CS) instead of the first, and added the Appropriations Committee as a sponsor.

Changed the bill identifier from version c1 to c2 and updated the timestamp of the last modification.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 25, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review -under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 19, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Appropriations, 02/24/26, 9:00 am, 110 Senate Building

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Original reference(s) removed: Appropriations Committee on Higher Education; Rules

upper

Feb 13, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Feb 6, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Criminal Justice, 02/11/26, 3:00 pm, 37 Senate Building

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

upper

Dec 16, 2025

Committee

Referred to Criminal Justice; Appropriations Committee on Higher Education; Rules

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors