BUNNELL, Fla. – District and state leaders in St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam and Volusia counties want to “change the script” when it comes to substance use and violence among students.
Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza, whose office represents all four counties, joined with the superintendents of each school district on Thursday to announce a new anti-drug and anti-violence initiative.
Larizza said the initiative is the first of its kind in Florida, and the leaders and their staff have been working together for nearly a year to come up with a proactive approach to the issues of substance use (vaping/THC/fentanyl) and violence (fighting/threats/guns) across the circuit.
The “Safety First, Success Always” initiative they came up with after meeting with parents and students from each district is focused on three pillars:
1. Education: All four school districts will implement a circuitwide curriculum on substance use and violence in the five hours of Character and Life Skills through Resiliency Education, which is required to be provided monthly to public school students grades 6-12. A video component from State Attorney Larizza will also be included, which will teach students what consequences they could face if they break the law.
Proactive assembly presentations will also be brought to all school levels circuitwide to give some early education about substance use and violence to younger students.
2. Awareness: Public service announcement videos regarding substance use and violence will be distributed into the community by the school districts and state attorney’s office to raise awareness of the risks and consequences.
3. Accountability: All four school districts have identified circuitwide, age-appropriate and meaningful consequences and a required education component related to substance use and violence that will be applied consistently through each district’s Student Code of Conduct.
Vaping will be a focus of the required substance abuse education in the initiative.
“That’s a real problem in all of our communities these days,” St. Johns County School District Superintendent Tim Forson said.
Volusia County Schools Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin said it was a genuine team effort to come up with the initiative.
“This is what a village looks like, coming together to really be proactive when it comes to keeping our children and our community safe,” Balgobin said.
She said students and parents will be involved in the creation of the PSAs that will be shown across the circuit, which is a chance to empower them to be part of the solution.
The PSAs will include information about available services.
“We can be preventative, but also if we need to react, we have the right interventions in place,” Balgobin said.
Flagler Schools Superintendent LaShakia Moore said she was happy to be a part of getting the initiative started with her fellow leaders.
“I cannot wait for all that we will accomplish and how we will support the students of the seventh circuit,” Moore said.
Putnam County School District Superintendent Dr. Rick Surrency thanked Larizza for bringing them all together to work on the project.
“We’re better together than we are separate,” he said, adding that the four superintendents usually talk when there’s a hurricane coming. “But now, there’s another reason we can talk and that is to make sure our kids are safe.”
Surrency said a key element of the initiative is the circuitwide plan to align their codes of conduct when it comes to accountability measures for substance abuse and violence.
“Before our kids can learn, they have to feel safe and they have to be safe,” Surrency said. “Our kids have to be safe before they can be successful.”
He said the leaders hope they can become a model of cooperation for the rest of the state.
“Safety is our top priority,” the group said in a joint statement. “We are confident the ‘Safety First, Success Always’ initiative will change the script from substance use and violence to empowering our students and community to help us foster a safe environment for success.”
The initiative is launching for the 2024-2025 school year, and the leaders said they will be looking for more circuit leaders who can help them accomplish their goals.