- December 4, 2025
Among Flagler Schools recommendations based on its annual Safe Schools Assessment, is installing some type of weapons detection system on school campuses.
District Safety Specialist David Bossardet presented the findings of the security risk assessment at the School Board’s agenda workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 14. He asked the board to provide feedback prior to Nov. 1. The district is required by state statute to submit the findings and the board’s actions to the Florida Department of Education’s Office of Safe Schools within a month.
The presentation came on the heels of a School Board executive session on school safety two weeks ago.
Using the Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool, the assessment reviewed:
After completing the assessment, the district compiled six areas of focus including a weapons detection system, which would take a proactive approach to safety, Bossardet said.
The Volusia County School District has been installing an artificial intelligence weapons detection system in its high schools. Mainland became the sixth Volusia school to be equipped with the system on Sept. 23. The weapons detectors can recognize contents within student backpacks.
The other areas of focus are:
“We not only want to make sure we have cameras in all areas throughout our campuses,” Bossardet said, “but what type of cameras do we have and what enhancements can we make to our our camera system. Obviously, technology is improving every day and we want to make sure our camera system is keeping up with those technologies.”
“We want to make sure we work with the county, the sheriff's office, the city of Palm Coast, because it will be an all-hands-on-deck affair where we're all aware of who's in charge of what, who the incident commander is, where we would go, what does the communication look like and whose role is what in those situations,” Bossardet said.
Finally, Bossardet noted that the School Hardening Grant has decreased each year from $183,182 in 2022-23 to $177,409 in 2023-24 and an estimated $171,000 this school year. The district also has $300,000 in its safety budget from its 1.5 mill capital fund.
Board Vice Chair Christy Chong asked Bossardet if other programs discussed in the executive session are also on the table. Chong has requested at past meetings that the district revist discussions on instituting a guardian program.
Bossardet said the presentation was just a general overview.
Janie Ruddy asked about another program suggested in the executive session involving SRDs to be involved in a drug prevention program.
“It sounded like Sheriff (Rick) Staley is very in favor of it. And the SRD contract does outline that that is a piece that our deputies could be involved in, so, I just wanted to kind of raise that as an item for the board,” Ruddy said.
Bossardet said that is a program the SRDs are willing to participate in and they are currently involved in health classes which cover such topics as vaping.
“I think that goes back to the prevention and threat management section as part of this assessment, and looking at ways where can we utilize (SRDs) even in a more formal version … bringing awareness to our students and our families,” Bossardet said.
