FORT MYERS, Fla. — School safety guidelines in Lee County will soon be passed permanently, following discussion at Thursday's school board meeting.
Back in July, those guidelines were passed on a temporary basis because the school board didn’t have enough members present during the vote.
District 5 school board member, Gwynetta Gittens says she hopes that parents understand how much the district values student safety.
“Parents need to know that we have the safety of their children at heart," said GIttens, "When they drop them off in the morning or they arrive on the until we deposit them back again we want them to know that we do have the plans, people and processes in place to keep them as safe as possible.”
One measure discussed at the board meeting was threat assessment teams.
“It’s a team effort that everyone is involved to make sure that our students are safe," said Gittens.
According to the district guidelines these groups include at least one school administrator, one school resource officer and one mental health professional.
Other team members are assigned as needed.
Their goal is identify students that pose a threat, let law enforcement know about it and get those students plugged into mental health services if need be.
“I can’t stress say enough to the fact that a lot of time these issues of safety and security have to do with mental health," said Gittens.
School officials say these teams have been in place for since last school year, but in the wake of the Parkland shooting they wanted to make sure these rules were officially placed on the books.
“I’m very proud to say that this is one of the areas that we got out in front of quite a while ago," said Gittens.
The School Board will have a chance to vote on these guidelines at the next board meeting on August 26.
