Final hearing on risk protection order for Sarasota student set for September

A final hearing on whether or not to extend a risk protection order for the Sarasota middle school student who made alleged threats against a local elementary school has been moved to Sept. 8.

Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Charles E. Williams granted a joint stipulation Friday filed by the defense for the family and the general counsel for the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office. The temporary risk protection order will remain in place until the Sept. 8 hearing when a final order will be entered, meaning the family cannot have any firearms or ammunition in the home for the time being.

Prior to Friday's hearing, concerned members of the public began gathering in the hallway outside the courtroom. In total, only 17 individuals were allowed inside, filling the gallery completely, with even more community members waiting outside the room as the hearing progressed.

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Notably missing from the courtroom were the defense attorney for the family and the general counsel, both of whom opted to phone in for the hearing.

Due to the age of the minor, The Sarasota Herald-Tribune will not publish the names of the student or their family members for safety reasons.

A temporary ex-parte risk protection motion was filed on Aug. 18 after Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies were contacted by the Sarasota County School police regarding a 12-year-old middle school student who was suspended for repeated behavior problems.

After performing an evaluation of the student and searching the home, which allegedly produced two maps of Lakeview Elementary School noting the location of security cameras, two teachers and threatening language, the student was taken to Bayside Center for Behavior Health for treatment under Florida's Baker Act. The act gives police and doctors the power to place an individual into involuntary mental health treatment for up to 72 hours as a way to protect the person from harming themselves or others.

Judge Williams also granted in part a motion filed for confidentiality, which will redact the names, birth dates and addresses of any minor witnesses in the case that have not already been redacted.

Stephanie Brandow, the mother of one of the teachers who was threatened and the family spokesperson, was one of the many who came to court Friday.

Brandow was shocked when she first heard about the threats made against her daughter, adding that while everyone would like answers immediately, they understand as a family, as parents, and as community members that there are certain policies and procedures in place that need to be followed.

Brandow added that her daughter did not go to school Monday through Wednesday because of the situation.

"It's not fair to her. It's not fair to my granddaughters. It's not fair to the other students in her class," Brandow said. "Many parents have contacted us. Let's just hope that what is just and what is right does come out and we need to take a look at some laws in this country regarding privacy."

School safety expert weighs in on "tight rope" school administration, law enforcement walk

Following messages sent to families by both Lakeview Elementary and Sarasota Middle schools, some parents raised concerns that the messages weren't detailed enough.

Jennifer Gentile, a parent of a student at Lakeview Elementary, said the district didn't communicate the extent of the threat well enough with parents, according to previous Herald-Tribune reporting. She sent an email to the district and the School Board on Wednesday seeking more transparency.

In an interview, Gentile said she wouldn’t have sent her child to school if she’d known more, and she hopes in the future the district will provide more detail in messages to families.

Dr. Ken Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services — a Cleveland-based national consulting firm specializing in school security and emergency preparedness training, has focused his research on school administrators' strategic crisis leadership and communicating school safety in highly ambiguous and uncertain contexts.

School administrators and law enforcement walk a tightrope, Trump explained. On the one hand, they are under extreme pressure to provide as much timely, accurate, authentic, and transparent information about school incidents to parents and the community, he said, and on the other hand, school administrators must deal with student privacy issues and federal student privacy laws that prevent them from disclosing certain information.

Previous reporting: Parents concerned by anonymous app used to report Florida school threats

So, while it may appear that school administrators are hiding information, the reality is that there is just some information they can't tell parents, Trump said.

It doesn't help that in today's digital age, rumors and misinformation spread much faster. Trump said historically when a school incident occurred, school administrators were able to investigate the incident, work with the police, deal with the discipline, and then send a letter home with students to parents.

"In today's world, you can't manage that sequentially," Trump said.

Trump said schools need to have a school security or crisis plan in place to manage incidents and threats, and they also need to have a communications plan in place that's happening at the same time.

"It is a delicate act," Trump said. "It's something that we need to support our school administrators with more training on, to be strategic school safety leaders, and ... how to communicate effectively to go through these scenarios, so that you're giving a reasonable amount of specificity."

He stressed that when less specificity is provided to parents, it can create greater anxiety unintentionally. So, school administrators should focus on providing timely information with as much detail as they can legally provide.

In order to be prepared, Trump recommended that schools take five minutes at the end of every faculty meeting to talk about safety, security, and emergency planning, and to take five minutes at the end of superintendent leadership meetings to do the same.

Another suggestion: take one block at the end of every newsletter sent home to parents and talk about school safety — whether that's talking about arrival and dismissal procedures, bullying prevention programs, introducing school resource officers, social-emotional and mental health programs, as well as communication strategies — it contributes to the culture of school safety and will help in the future.

Sarasota schools police chief reassures about safety protocols

Interim Police Chief Stephen Lorenz for the school district's police department said he and two other district staff met with parents Thursday to quell their concerns and explain why they couldn't answer certain questions.

Lorenz said he went over safety measures already in place to help reassure parents that their children are safe. Some of the safety measures highlighted included that the schools have single-point entries, gates are locked from bell to bell, there are robust camera systems, doors to every class are locked during instruction, and the fact that all of the school district's officers are certified in single officer response to an active shooter through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

In situations when a threat is identified, a threat assessment team is convened, Lorenz said. If there is a threat involving weapons, the sheriff's office is notified to go to the house to make contact with the parents and make sure there is no access to weapons.

The student won't be able to come back to school until the threat assessment is done, and if the student does come back to school, a safety plan is put into place, Lorenz said. Some plans can be as simple as the student not being able to have a backpack or their backpack being searched every day, or being walked to and from every class.

Safety teams, usually composed of a staff member from the school, a school counselor, a law enforcement officer, a teacher, and a school psychologist if the school has one, will also get involved if it's a mental health case to support the student's return to school.

Lorenz said the threat assessment in this particular case has been completed and there is also a safety plan in place that includes the student, any family members, and staff that might be involved. He added that he received a phone call about the situation Thursday night and has been working on a safety plan since then.

Lorenz added during the interview that the agency is working on possibly doing a meeting with the public where they can submit their questions about safety and security that could be answered during a town hall.

For future incidents, parents should be on the lookout for Connect-Ed notifications, the system the school district uses to notify parents when incidents occur, and they can look at SCSPD's social media sites, Lorenz said.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota Middle School student risk protection order hearing postponed