ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Six Florida school districts missed the deadline to comply with a state school safety law.
In 2022, 10 Investigates’ reporting prompted legislators to change state law to help make campuses safer. We didn’t stop there. 10 Investigates followed through to make sure school districts complied.
It took until this month — eight months past the July 1, 2023 deadline — for every district to comply with the law.
“I feel like teachers have to be more aware of who they’re teaching. It’s, you know, like, it’s our second home,” Parkland school shooting survivor Isabella Benjumea told 10 Investigates in 2022.
A former student with a history of mental illness killed 17 people at her high school on Valentine’s Day 2018.
“They were like, ‘Just run. Just leave. And as a 14-year-old, I just started running,” Benjumea said. “I felt like I was in a horror movie.”
After that school shooting, Florida lawmakers passed a law requiring all school employees to get Youth Mental Health Awareness and Assistance Training.
The training teaches employees how to identify the signs of emotional disturbance, mental illness, and substance abuse – plus how to engage with troubled students and connect them to help.
But the law requiring that training didn’t include a deadline. 10 Investigates discovered in 2022 that many school employees still hadn’t done it.
“Without this investigation, we wouldn’t be aware of the noncompliance that’s happening in our school districts,” said then-Florida Senate Education Committee Chair Joe Gruters in 2022.
So, lawmakers passed another law requiring every school district in the state to notify the Florida Department of Education that at least 80 percent of school employees had gotten the mental health training by July 1, 2023, and every year after that.
We’ve been checking in with the Department of Education ever since and found six districts missed that deadline: Brevard, Hardee, Lake, Putnam, St. Johns and St. Lucie.
St. Lucie Public Schools was the last district to comply with the law. The district sent the Department of Education its certification letter this month — the day after 10 Investigates reached out asking why they were the only district that hadn’t done so.
St. Lucie Public Schools wouldn’t answer any of our questions about why it missed the deadline. Hardee County Schools didn’t get back to us, either.
Paul Abbatinozzi, Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services at St. Johns County School District, agreed to talk to 10 Investigates about why the district didn’t get its certification letter in on time.
“It’s probably a combination of a few things, one, with regards to attrition, resignations, staff turnovers, and, you know, just trying to navigate our way through this. But we’re running a really aggressive training schedule right now,” said Paul Abbatinozzi, Associate Superintendent for Student Support Services at St. Johns County School District.
Abbatinozzi said the district plans to hold multiple trainings this summer to ensure new hires get up to speed.
“At least 80% of the required staff received the Youth Mental Health Awareness Training prior to students returning to our schools in August 2023. The District faced difficulties meeting the July 1, 2023 deadline due to limited trainers/dates as the training events were limited to 50 participants. In October 2023, we reached 92% of staff trained, and we are currently at 84%. Even though staff turnover impacts our percentage each month, PCSD is committed to keeping 80% of staff trained in YMHAT,” said Putnam County School District Director of Community Relations Ashley McCool.
Lake County Schools Communications Coordinator Sherri Owens said her district’s ability to meet the deadline was hampered by staff turnover, a misunderstanding about which employees must be trained, and the difficulty of getting properly trained instructors.
“We now have met the requirement and have put in place a plan to maintain the required percentage. That plan includes certifying 25 instructors; adding a 3rd day of New Teacher Orientation that is reserved for the YMHFA course, and scheduling more school-wide trainings throughout the year – all of which we have done,” Owens told 10 Investigates in an email.
“Our district diligently trained our staff of 8,000+ on Youth Mental Health Awareness based on state law. We informed the state when we met the 80% goal. As a school district, we proudly provide our students with the best education available in Brevard County,” Brevard Public Schools Chief Strategic Communications Officer Russell Bruhn said in an email.