More Central Florida school districts are discussing measures to tighten school security following this month's deadly school shooting in South Florida.

And one of the most controversial proposals — arming teachers — was a part of those discussions.

That proposal, along with other measures, came up when school boards across Central Florida met Tuesday evening.

It was a packed house at the Volusia County School Board meeting, where school safety and security was on the agenda as more door locks, security cameras and fencing are being proposed.

Arming teachers wasn't on the agenda, but it was the topic of discussion during two hours of public comment. 

"As a teacher, my job if there was an emergency in my classroom was to protect students, and how do you protect students? You get them out of the line of fire," said Jewel Dickson, a retired teacher. "You do not think about picking up a gun and shooting it. You think about getting those kids under a desk, a closet, whatever you can do to protect them."

The presentation focused on the social media threats received in the last two weeks, and how the district has addressed them quickly.

The board says parents have resources right at their finger tips to help protect their children, such as apps to monitor social media and other apps that help parents track phone logs.

The presentation also focused on phases in crisis management and processes they go through to see if a threat is fake or real. Right now, they’re working on preparedness and doing in-school practice and training drills and real life role play.

The school board also says they're looking at creating single point access into schools.

Stefanie Rochow of DeLand knows her granddaughter Isabel still has a few years before she’ll go to school, and her safety is already on her mind. She supports Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood’s proposal to have teachers carry weapons.

“I’d be comforted in knowing that Isabel is being taken care of, that she’s got a teacher that’s armed and ready to go,” Rochow said.

More meetings across Central Florida

The Orange County School Board spent close to two hours discussing school security. The entire board, the superintendent, the OCPS chief police and community members took turns discussing and questioning one-another over security.

Almost everyone was in agreement, including the sentiment said by community members that arming teachers is not the answer.

“As a community member, I would like to hear unequivocally, forcefully and soon, from the school board, that this is not something that we will be entertaining. Our teachers can’t give our kids a Tylenol. They shouldn’t be require to take up arms to protect them,” said Judy Hayes, OCPS parent.

One by one, school board members answered that demand.

“I do not support arming our teachers, I do not think that is the right way to do this,” said Nancy Robbinson, OCPS Board Member, District 6. 

“I wouldn’t want to bring any gun to a school which I am teaching at, I am too busy trying to teach and discipline,” said Kathleen Gordon, OCPS Board Member, District 5. 

Prior to comments, OCPS Police Chief Bryan Holmes went over the strategic security plan for the district.

“The goal is to have a comprehensive and I am going to say this word, multilayered security at all of our campuses,” said Chief Holmes. 

The hardening of school security is not a cheap process. But, Board Chair Bill Sublette said thanks to funding through the half penny sales tax and the one million dollar property tax, OCPS does have the means to fund these measures.  

“You will never hear me say, and I doubt you will ever hear any member of this board say that we don’t have the money to do something that we think is a necessary safety or security measure. I cringe when I have heard that from other districts around the country, I don’t think I have ever heard one of our board members say that,” said Sublette. 

Another request that board members and the superintendent asked of parents and the community is to report any suspicious activity they see or hear. But on top of that, they are adding in an additional request.

“So we have asked our community do not spread it, because sometimes it is a hoax, sometimes it is someone foolishly thinking it’s comical. So we ask folks don’t spread it, report it,” said Dr. Barbara Jenkins, OCPS Superintendent. 

Seminole County School Board members also discussed school security Tuesday evening, but there was no resolution. A school boards meetings was also held in Brevard County, but no resolution was met either, focusing instead on public discussion. 

In Lake County on Monday night, school board member Bill Mathias proposed the same idea of arming teachers. And in Brevard County, the sheriff and superintendent revealed a plan to have school employees voluntarily go through 130 hours of deputy-style training and act as armed security, which would respond to a campus threat like an active shooter.

“We’re in a place where we have to consider things that we’ve never had to consider before when it comes to protecting our children,” Brevard County Superintendent Desmond Blackburn said.

In all proposed plans, an extensive background check and psychological evaluation would be required before educators carry weapons.