Elementary School Teacher Allegedly Carried Loaded Gun, 2 Knives To Classroom

A Florida elementary school teacher was arrested Monday after she allegedly carried a loaded gun and two knives into her classroom.

Betty Jo Soto, 49, a fourth-grade teacher at Starkey Elementary School, Pinellas County, faced two misdemeanor charges of carrying a concealed weapon, after a Glock 9mm semiautomatic pistol loaded with seven bullets was found “hidden” in a backpack she was carrying during school hours. She also had a six-inch fighting knife in her pocket and a two-inch finger push knife in her backpack strap.

Pinellas school district spokeswoman Lisa Wolf-Chason told Tampa Bay Times that the accused was behaving in a “suspicious” manner Monday. During school hours, Soto was noticed carrying her backpack everywhere she went – an action regarded unusual by Principal Audrey Chaffin.

“The principal notified law enforcement and in the course of their investigation, discovered what was in her backpack," Wolf-Chason said.

According to Soto’s arrest report, the weapons were discovered by the authorities at about 11:30 a.m. EDT, in her fourth-grade classroom. The loaded gun was reportedly exposed to the students at the time.

Soto was not allowed to carry such weapons on the school campus, despite having a permit, which allowed her to carry a concealed weapon in the state. She was booked into the Pinellas County jail in the afternoon and was released later in the day after posting $500 bail.

School officials said Soto will not be returning to teach at the institution for the rest of the school year. They also added they will not renew her teaching contract for the next year. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against Soto by the school district only after the court reaches a verdict regarding the charges against her.

Earlier this month, Florida school districts said they don’t intend to adhere to a new law allowing teachers to carry guns in classrooms. The news came following a new law signed by the state's Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of an expansion of the “armed guardian” program, established after the 2018 Parkland school shooting. The program was intended to train public school teachers to be capable of defending themselves as well as the students if their institutions come under threat from a shooter.

The Guardian approached 25 of the largest school districts in Florida and found that none of them were planning to allow teachers to be armed in the classroom. “The school board voted on a resolution against arming teachers more than a year ago,” Broward School District Superintendent Robert Runcie said in a statement to parents.

Local law enforcement agreed with Runcie’s stance. “Having untrained personnel carrying firearms is more likely to create a tragic scenario where innocent people can get injured or killed,” Broward County Sheriff Tony Gregory wrote in a letter to Florida legislators.