Parents in New Smyrna Beach send their kids to school trusting that the armed adult on campus is there to protect them. That trust has been badly shaken.

On Oct. 7, a school resource officer at New Smyrna Beach High School reportedly saw a school guardian holding his phone low by his leg to snap photos of female students as they walked past. The officer took his weapon and barred him from campus. Police say a search of his phone turned up videos showing the sexual abuse of horses. He was arrested on Oct. 10 and charged with four counts of animal cruelty. Police said no criminal images of students were found.

In Florida, school guardians are not police officers. They are armed civilians who work in schools after completing state training. Yet families have little view into how guardians are screened, how they are supervised, or what happens when warning signs appear. One alert officer stepped in this time. Students should never have to count on luck.

The Volusia County School Board can act now. It should publicly explain how this guardian was vetted and hired, notify families whose daughters may have been photographed, and require ongoing reviews and repeat psychological evaluations for every armed guardian on its campuses. The Florida Legislature should also make it clearly illegal to secretly photograph students on school grounds, so this kind of behavior carries real consequences.

Every parent deserves certainty that the person carrying a gun in the school hallway can be trusted around their children.

Sign the petition to demand stronger vetting and accountability for armed school guardians before another student is put at risk.