Lake County schools safety tax extension on the November ballot
TAVARES — The Lake County School Board will be asking voters in November to extend a school safety tax enacted following the deadly attack of a gunman in south Florida that shocked the nation and spurred lawmakers to try and prevent future tragedies.
“The tax was the result of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act enacted by the Florida Legislature…,” the Lake schools' website explains.
“The act made significant school safety reforms and imposed upon all Florida public school boards numerous additional requirements to achieve greater safety for students and staff. The funds allocated by the state were insufficient to satisfy the objectives and requirements in the act without compromising the quality of instructional and other services provided by the board.”
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Fifty-six percent of voters approved the 0.75 mill tax in 2018.
One mill is $1 for every $1,000 in taxable home value. A home with a taxable value of $250,000 (with a $50,000 homestead exemption), will cost the homeowner $187.50, according to school’s website.
The tax raised $17.8 million for traditional schools in 2021, and $3.4 million for charter schools, according to district spokeswoman Sherri Owens.
The board voted in March to have the Board of County Commissioners place the referendum on the November ballot.
Funding from the tax helps the schools provide mental health services
Dealing with mental illness is a key part.
“It’s sad and we really need the help,” says Shannon Carter, a therapist who was assigned to Leesburg Elementary School during the last school year.
For most people, it is hard to fathom that elementary school-age children experience major problems, but she has seen it all, including suicide ideation.
Days immediately following weekends are living nightmares, with children coming to school who have been physically, emotionally and sexually abused. They are often caught in vise grip between families, foster parents, child welfare caseworkers and police.
Some children end up being arrested.
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Carter used to refer many children to LifeStream, but that mental health facility started putting up the stop sign because they couldn’t handle all of the cases.
She was so busy she started holding group therapy sessions.
Carter recalls the reaction that School Board member Stephanie Luke had in a meeting with therapists to discuss the scope of the problem.
“Really? Really?” she kept saying.
“I really try to be proactive,” Carter said.
She helps give kids coping skills and anger management, “so they don’t blow their top and run out of the classroom,” she said.
“I’m probably three times busier than a regular therapist,” Carter said, but she likes what she is doing and wants to stay in the system.
The district says it has used the money to:
Open Lake Success Academy to provide short-term alternative placements for at-risk students in need of social, emotional, behavioral, academic and mental health needs.
Hire a nurse for every school, “which became extremely helpful during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” according to the website.
Hire psychologists, social workers and mental health liaisons to help students before issues reach a critical stage.
Help offset the costs of school resource officers, and security personnel.
Create the Positive Alternative to School Suspension (PASS) program to remove disciplinary cases from the classroom for a time, while still keeping them in school. Staffers will teach them how to manage their behavior.
Open the Academy of Lake Hills in Mascotte and Howey-in-the-Hills for long-term placements for troubled students.
Luke, who chairs the Lake School Board, is an enthusiastic supporter of the changes, including the mental health liaisons like Carter.
They help kids on the spot or refer them to others who can provide the services they need, she said. It gives students someone they can talk to about their problems.
The new system also helps students make a smoother transition from elementary to middle, and middle to high school, Luke said.
“How can we best help this student? Which teacher might be able to handle this student?” she said.
Each school also has a PASS teacher. Kids who are not in school get farther and farther behind, Luke said.
Guidance counselors are taking a bigger role in helping students get the kind of services they need, and helping parents deal with their children.
School nurses are an important safety valve, especially for children who have diabetes or epilepsy, for example, Luke said.
Monies have also been used to improve security, to harden potential target areas against attack.
The Florida Legislature has added more security requirements in its new budget, which includes $140 million for mental health and $210 million for school safety.
Congress has acted, too It passed legislation restricting gun sales to young people, and it temporarily bans weapons to people deemed most dangerous.
Nickolas Cruz was 19 when he opened fire on fellow students in Parkland. He had a history of mental illness and behavioral problems.
Most of the $13 billion in federal spending is aimed at boosting mental health programs and aiding schools.
This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Lake voters to decide whether or not to extend school safety tax
