- November 22, 2024
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In a wide ranging workshop agenda, the Flagler County School Board on Tuesday, Jan. 17, learned more about two potential programs it could put into practice next school year.
The board agreed to hand out guardian program interest forms to employees who work on school campuses. Board members were also informed about liability issues pertaining to Narcan distribution. District staff also presented a proposed school calendar for the 2023-24 school year.
Of the 26 school districts that participate in the school guardian program, 22 use uniformed guardians who openly carry a weapon for the purpose of thwarting an active assailant incident but have no arresting powers, Flagler Schools Safety Specialist Tom Wooleyhan said.
The Flagler School Board is looking into becoming one of the few districts that would use plain-clothes guardians who would carry concealed weapons.
This option would not require new hires. The guardians would be instructional or non-instructional staffers who are already on school campuses and would undergo the Flagler County Sheriff's Office’s training program, which consist of a minimum of 144 hours.
The guardians would help supplement but not replace the district’s 14 school resource deputies that are provided by the FCSO.
The district drew up a “Guardian Program Interest Form” gauging school employees’ interest in becoming a guardian in addition to their regular duties.
The form says “state funds are granted to participating Sheriff’s Offices to cover the screening and training costs for each guardian. Also, guardians receive a one-time stipend of $500 for serving in the program.”
If employees indicate they are interested in becoming a school guardian, additional questions ask for the respondents’ school and department, job description, whether they have a current concealed weapon license and if they have a law enforcement or military background.
Wooleyhan said the FCSO can apply for a grant now for a base amount for $100,000 to help cover training and weapons, background checks and psychological evaluations. Training could potentially begin in June with the possibility of guardians in place by next school year, he said.
The three School Board members — Cheryl Massaro, Will Furry and Sally Hunt — who were present at that point during the workshop agreed to distribute the guardian interest forms.
As the School Board decides on guidelines for storing and distributing Narcan in schools, Board Attorney Kristy Gavin informed board members of state statutes relating to training and liability.
Narcan is a treatment for opioid overdose. It can restore normal breathing in as little as two or three minutes.
Superintendent Cathy Mittelstadt would adopt board guidelines on how Narcan would be administered, identifying training and where it would be placed on campuses. Currently, only Flagler’s school resource deputies have Narcan to administer in emergencies.
Gavin said school nurses would be required to monitor storage. Training would be required to administer Narcan. Parental notification would not be required to administer the medication, but once it is administered a parent must be notified, Gavin said.
A standing order from a physician is required to allow school staff to store and administer the medication. Only those who are trained to administer Narcan would be protected from civil liability through the state’s Good Samaritan Act, Gavin said.
“The statute is very specific on who would be covered, those who have been trained and if we have a standing order to have that medication on our campus, monitored and in accordance to the physician’s order,” she said.
School nurses would be responsible for inventory and making sure the medication has not expired.
Policies that would need to be decided, Gavin said, are where Narcan would be placed around campuses and how it would be secured, such as using a lock box with a key code that trained personnel would have.
Mittelstadt said board members can think about a draft policy that district staff can report back on with costs and other details. Massaro and board member Colleen Conklin indicated they are in favor of a Narcan policy.
“Let’s lean on the side of saving a life,” Conklin said.
District staff presented the proposed school calendar for 2023-24. The calendar committee — which consists of two representatives each from the teachers' and support staff unions, four district staffers and two parents — produced the calendar.
The first day of school will once again be Aug. 10, which is the earliest the state allows. By starting that early, students will get a full week of Thanksgiving break and the first semester will end on the last day before winter break.
Louise Bossardet, coordinator of data quality in the district's teaching and learning department, said the only way to accomplish all of those prerequisites was to make Dec. 22 the last day of school before the winter break.
The stakeholders' other request, Bossardet said, was to end the school year before Memorial Day. The last day of school is scheduled to be Thursday, May 23, two days before the start of the Memorial Day weekend.
May 24 is one of several potential hurricane makeup days. The others are Oct. 16, Nov. 20-21 (which would shorten Thanksgiving break by one or two days), Jan. 8 (which is currently a professional learning day and would move professional learning to Jan. 5) and March 15.
Bossardet said the committee did compare its calendar to surrounding districts but could not align spring breaks. Flagler's 2024 spring break is slated to be March 15-22 with the first day back on March 25. St. Johns' is March 11-15 and Volusia's is March 25-29, she said.
