- April 18, 2024
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The Flagler County School District is working to meet the requirements of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act passed after the school shooting in Parkland, plus a school-safety-related executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on Feb. 13.
"I know that our team has worked really hard in putting all of these components together. ... Flagler County has been on this issue and takes it very, very seriously."
— COLLEEN CONKLIN, School Board member
The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, Senate Bill 7026, requires school safety officers at each school, new mental health services and mental health-related training, and safety assessments and safety drills at each school, among other requirements, and lays out timelines for districts to meet those new requirements.
“I know that our team has worked really hard in putting all of these components together,” School Board member Colleen Conklin said at a School Board workshop Feb. 20, speaking by phone because she was sick. “Flagler County has been on this issue and takes it very, very seriously.”
To meet the law’s requirements, Flagler Schools Director of Leadership Development Earl Johnson told the Flagler County School Board at the workshop, Flagler Schools has assigned a school resource deputy to each school, established school treat assessment teams and established a threat assessment team protocol, provided incident survival training to all students and staff, and held regular meetings with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. It has also trained staff to keep classroom doors locked once class is in session, has been working to redesign school lobbies to make them safer, and is planning to add security film on school and classroom windows.
The district has also taken a number of additional steps, including designating safe areas in each school, working to establish single points of entry at each school , upgrading security cameras, working with the FCSO on the “See Something, Say Something” initiative, and holding first responders lunches, in which uniformed first responders can get lunch at a school within their zone.
“We wanted to have more of a presence on our campus, and by them being on our campus ... we want them talking to our students, our students getting to know them … and having conversations with our students, as their schedules allow,” Johnson said. The initiative began Feb. 19.
Conklin said she also wanted to make sure the district is preparing to comply with the new executive order, which looks at the effectiveness of school discipline diversion programs.
“I do know that we have some, and that they work effectively,” Conklin said.
The executive order requires the Department of Education and the Department of Juvenile Justice to conduct an audit of each school district to determine what diversion programs are in place, what their cost and eligibility requirements are, their impact on school safety, and whether they should be closed or regulated, according to a news release from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office.
