Lawmakers vow to act on school safety goal
Grand jury: Plans cobbled together with ‘chewing gum, duct tape and hope’
A grand jury blasted Florida’s school districts for distorting crime statistics, failing to properly discipline troubled children and cobbling together school safety plans with “chewing gum, duct tape and hope.”
It also castigated local communities for endangering the public by refusing to cooperate with one another on emergency communications. It found some school safety plans were nothing more than last-minute “temporary fixes.”
Its solution: The state and its agencies should exert more control over local officials. Disobedient school officials should be subject to removal, fines and even criminal charges if they fail to follow the law.
State Sen. Lauren Book, DPlantation, said she’s ready to lead the charge to make sure local leaders are held accountable, and the report’s recommendations are fully implemented.
She blasted leaders in her own community for failing to work together to build a communications tower needed to help police communicate during a crisis.
“What I want is to not have dead children in our community,” she said. “We need to figure this out.”
She also questioned whether enough has been done to keep children safe in schools. It’s been almost two years since a gunman killed 17 students and staff in a Feb. 14, 2018, massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
“People think we’re safer today than before Parkland happened,” Book said. “The reality is I don’t know if we are. This is an issue we are going to need to chip away at for the rest of time.”
Other lawmakers said Thursday they are reviewing the report, but they expect its recommendations will be examined closely ahead of the next legislative session that starts Jan. 14.
“The report is very concerning to me,” Senate President Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, said in a prepared statement. “The fact that we have directives that are not being fulfilled is troubling. We will take the recommendations very seriously and vet through it in the coming weeks.”
Here are some the problems and key recommendations in the grand jury’s second interim report released Wednesday:
Problem:
Regional “turf wars” are halting badly needed upgrades to emergency communication systems that would allow for more efficient and unified 911 systems and better coordination among law enforcement agencies. Districts are building schools without consideration as to whether police radios will work inside buildings.
Delays and infighting over the placement and appearance of new radio towers in Broward hampered the ability to effectively communicate potential threats.
Solution:
The Legislature should make a state agency manage relationships among local jurisdictions and ensure emergency communications systems are up to date, properly managed and sufficiently funded. School districts should be stripped of their authority to inspect their own construction. That responsibility should be given to other local agencies capable of performing independent inspections.
Problem:
The Florida Department of Education has limited authority to enforce state laws and requirements related to school safety issues, and noncompliance has been a “persistent problem.” The only recourse the state has to force compliance is to withhold school superintendents’ pay under limited circumstances.
Some districts deliberately manipulated crime statistics and intentionally did not report incidents. “The people ultimately in charge of school districts directly benefit from maintaining — if not improving — an impression of safety and order in their districts,” the report said.
Solution:
The state Education Department should be given sufficient investigative staff and resources to provide oversight. Sanctions should be expanded to include withholding state funds, fines, censure, referral for criminal charges and removal of disobedient school officials.
Problem:
Charter schools are being left unprotected because of failures to ensure a school safety officer is stationed on campuses. Also districts don’t have contingency plans for officers who are out sick, on vacation or are tending to other matters, such as court hearings. The grand jury wrote, “Many of the last second ‘plans’ submitted by the districts appear to be temporary fixes held together with nothing more than chewing gum, duct tape and hope.”
The report faulted school districts for failing to ensure charter schools complied with requirements for school resource officers. It cited Broward’s last minute scramble to follow the law as an example.
Solution:
Lawmakers should clarify state law to expand the jurisdiction of school district law enforcement agencies to include all public school property, including school campuses. Safety plans should be required to have contingency plans for backup personnel.
Problem:
Some schools, particularly those with small student bodies, don’t have the funding they need to cover the cost of school safety officers. State law requires one armed officer on campus, but the grand jury found that is not adequate for larger campuses. Districts have been reluctant to allow teachers to undergo training and carry guns on campus, which could “act as a force multiplier in crisis scenarios.”
Solution:
The Legislature should create a grant process to provide supplemental funding for security resources. A formula should be developed requiring campuses with larger student bodies, older students, more acreage and a greater number of campus-crime incidents to provide more security.
State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, said the public can expect action.
“Now that this report has come out you’ll see a variety of pieces of legislation come down,” he said. “I don’t think anything is off the table. You are going to see the conversation continue and hopefully the grand jury report is fully reviewed and implemented.”
School officials didn’t have an immediate response to the grand jury report. Districts are facing challenges in complying with the law outside of their control, including a shortage of qualified candidates to serve as school safety officers.
The Broward school district didn’t respond to a request for comment. Joy Frank, general counsel for the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, said she was reviewing the report.
The Florida Supreme Court ordered the statewide grand jury probe in February at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request. The grand jury has a broad mandate to investigate schools safety matters statewide and issue indictments. The grand jury has been meeting since June and has a one-year term.
The Parkland school shooting happened when the Legislature was in session and prompted immediate action. Lawmakers required an armed guard on every campus and created a guardian program that allowed noninstructional employees to undergo training and carry guns. The law also raised the age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21 and created a red flag program that makes it easier for police to seize guns from dangerous people.
Earlier this year, the Legislature made a controversial change to allow classroom teachers to participate in the guardian program if local school boards agree. Most districts have opted not to arm teachers.
That legislation made other changes that didn’t receive much attention, including requiring greater reporting of school safety incidents, a standardized risk assessment process for dangerous students, and new guidelines on schoolbased mental health.
Lawmakers have other ideas for school safety that aren’t included in the grand jury report. Alyssa’s Law, named for 14-year-old Parkland victim Alyssa Alhadeff, would require silent panic alarms be installed at every public school in the state. Jaime’s Law would require background checks for ammunition purchases. That bill is named in honor of Jaime Guttenberg, a 14-year-old girl who was killed in the Parkland massacre.
“There is still work to be done, and I think there is still an appetite in this body to get it done,” said state Rep. Dan Daley, D-Coral Springs. “Even though we are getting farther away from Feb. 14, we want to make sure we never have another Feb. 14th in this state.”