Florida School Boards Association
A state school-safety commission meeting got heated Wednesday as members tackled a range of issues stemming from a controversial school “guardian” program, while one panelist recommended allowing Florida pre-schools to have armed security. Read More
The State Board of Education is poised to consider new rules next week, including a requirement that all public schools begin teaching students each year about youth substance abuse. Schools would also be mandated to report the professional qualifications of people teaching the classes, according to the rule. The reporting proposal would require school superintendents…
As kids head back to school across Florida in the coming weeks, the state has a new tool designed to help school districts identify, assess and provide intervention services to students whose behavior may pose a threat to themselves of others.The Florida Schools Safety Portal (FSSP) was unveiled by the state Department of Education on…
Mental health. Career planning. Personal finances. The list of topics that Florida lawmakers have required school districts to cover in classrooms continued to grow this year — some with little advance notice or funding to support them. The mental health mandate, for instance, came from the State Board of Education less than a month before…
The University of South Florida’s Baker Act Reporting Center has released numbers from the 2017-2018 fiscal year that show cases of involuntary examinations under The Florida Mental Health Act (commonly known as ‘the Baker Act’) are on the rise. The annual report shows that 205,781 people were placed under the Baker Act during the year. …
The Florida Department of Education rolled out its database of student information late Thursday that’s designed to enhance school security in the wake of last year’s shooting in Parkland.The data is primarily for groups of law enforcement, counselors and other school staff charged with evaluating threats made by students and deciding which ones may need…
Florida is planning to reinvent school-based mental health awareness, but Florida International University (FIU) psychologists are raising questions about the plan’s implementation. The goal is to help students identify the signs and symptoms of mental illnesses, how to get help for themselves and others and what to do or say to peers affected by a…
Florida school district officials are on alert in the days after an interim grand jury report found that some districts in the state’s 67 counties “have failed — or refused — to accept their responsibility for school safety.” The grand jury report is dated Friday, July 19, 2019 and found that “numerous school districts” in the state…
Some Florida school districts and law enforcement agencies have not fully complied with security measures enacted after a 2018 high school massacre because they are bickering over who is responsible, an interim report by a statewide grand jury says. Read More Read First Interim Grand Jury Report
Public schools will be required to teach students at least five hours of mental health instruction beginning in sixth grade, under a mandate approved by the state Board of Education Wednesday and hailed by Florida’s top educator as a “life saver.” Read More