Bunnell, FL - With less than a week to go until the start of the 2019-2020 school year, staff in the entire Flagler County School District undergo special training aimed at dealing with active assailants on campus.
The presentation was done in partnership with the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, which dealt with a share of written threats and weapon threats around different campuses in Flagler County.
With school starting up on Monday (August 12th), Flagler saw it fit to provide the training to all Flagler School employees so they know how to respond should they be faced with an incident during school hours.
“We appreciate the partnership we have with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office,” Dr. Earl Johnson, Flagler Schools Safety Officer said. “The tone of this training is both serious, yet informative. We value the role our School Resource Deputies, as well as those members of the FCSO offering this training, play in keeping our campuses safe.”
The training serves to fulfill criteria for Florida's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which requires active shooter training to be held in all schools at least once per semester.
“Just like fire drills and other emergencies, we want to give teachers and students the ability to immediately assess the threat and take action to protect themselves and each other,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said. “Unfortunately, the new environment that we live in call for this type of training. You never know when an active assailant may strike and the best offense is a good defense."
Before the school year starts, the Sheriff's Office is encouraging parents to talk about their children about what is and isn't appropriate behavior in school and on social media.
Age-appropriate presentations will also be held throughout schools once the year has started.
FCSO also mentioned that they have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to school or business threats. Inappropriate comments and implied threats will be thoroughly investigated and arrests will be made.
Just in the 2018-2019 school year alone, FCSO handled over 10 threats and incidents around different Flagler County campuses, ranging from elementary and up to high school level.
Some threats were made over different platforms like social media. One incident involved a student who displayed a loaded magazine and ammunition on a Snapchat video with the caption "I'm ready to shoot up the school," followed by a line of laughing emojis.
Other incidents include students bringing weapons onto campus, such as an 11-year-old boy who was arrested after being found with a knife at Rymfire Elementary.
Deputies were also called to Flagler Palm Coast High School just before the start of the day on April 26th after staff found threatening graffiti sprayed around the school.
And two students were arrested after "joking" about making threats online regarding a teacher.
