Jacquelin Ghosh said she felt terrified dropping off her three children at school Wednesday morning, after hearing the tragic news of another school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas, the day before. 

"Today I dropped her (Ghosh's oldest daughter) off at school and my younger daughter and I just have to hope that that's not going to happen here," Ghosh said.

It's been four years since a gunman killed 17 students at a South Florida high school on Valentine's Day 2018.

Since that time, schools across Florida have beefed up security to make sure that students are protected. That includes Alachua County, which has strict safety protocols in place and a sworn law enforcement officer at every school.

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So when a gunman shot and killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde at about noon Tuesday, it reminded many people all across Florida of the fear they felt when shootings took so many innocent lives closer to home.

Florida has seen two school shootings in 2022, one at Seminole High School, on Jan. 19, and the other at North Gardens High School, on March 9

Shane Andrew, interim superintendent of Alachua County Public Schools, released a statement to families on Wednesday saying that since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012 and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting, the district has taken steps to promote school safety. 

After the Parkland shooting the state implemented the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act which outlines reforms to make Florida schools safer, while keeping firearms out of the hands of mentally ill and dangerous individuals.

One of the safety measures is every school is required to have a safety officer. Andrew said Alachua County was one of the first districts to have law enforcement assigned to every school.

"We’ve been ‘hardening’ our school facilities with gates, fences, cameras, monitored doors and other safety features," he said. "We train our employees and conduct active threat drills with students and staff on a regular basis. School resource officers receive training on how to deal with armed assailants. We screen vendors, volunteers and other visitors coming onto campus. We also conduct threat assessments whenever necessary." 

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Other security measures are in place, Andrew said, however they keep many of those confidential to further protect students and teachers.

With local high school graduation ceremonies taking place this week on the campus of the University of Florida, campus police will expand their presence to the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and the O'Connell Center. Bags will also be checked by event staff at both locations and families will have to walk through metal detectors. 

Local school district leaders said Wednesday that more must be done to keep children and school staff safe.

"You're talking about teachers who risked their lives and lost their lives protecting students ... whatever our jobs are in the district we are in some way shape or form charged with caring for them and that makes this whole situation that much harder," said Jackie Johnson, spokeswoman for Alachua County Public Schools. 

School board chair Rob Hyatt said school safety should not be a political football.

"Even though there are people who see things from radically different points of view there has to be a serious attempt to find common ground to protect children protect teachers (and) employees," Hyatt said. 

The Alachua County Parent Teacher Association said for years they have supported safety measures that help keep kids safe from gun violence through legislative advocacy and partnerships with local organizations such Moms Demand Action and the Florida Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence. 

"And yet, here we are again, commenting on another horrific school shooting that leaves us feeling saddened, broken and in need of solutions," said Mary Benedict, president of the ACCPTA. 

The local parent organization urged the community to come together to advocate to national, state and local leaders for gun laws and increased mental health support for youth and adults. 

"National PTA continues to urge policymakers to prioritize legislation that provides funding to research gun violence, bans assault weapons, and enforces universal background checks to prevent those who may endanger public safety from accessing firearms. We also continue to advocate for more mental health resources within our schools and our communities to help prevent tragedies like this from occurring," the ACCPTA said.