Mental health services: The mental health provider that determined accused Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz shouldn't be Baker Acted in 2016 has been hired by the Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools to provide mental health services for students at their schools. Henderson Behavioral Health will provide assessments, diagnoses, interventions, treatment and recovery services for students in the 500 state charter schools that belong to the consortium. Henderson has been criticized for recommendation to not hospitalize Cruz after a suicide assessment, and is being sued for wrongful death by the parent of a student who was killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14. Miami Herald.
Private school safety: Private schools are safer for students than public schools, according to a report published recently in the Journal of School Choice. Researchers Danish Shakeel and Corey DeAngelis say students at private schools were 8 percent more likely to have never experienced physical conflicts, 28 percent more likely to have never experienced another student possessing a weapon on campus, and 13 percent more likely to have never experienced racial tension between students. redefinED.
ESSA questions: Florida's latest plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act is drawing questions from the U.S. Education Department. Specifically, federal officials want more details on how the state calculates math achievement and proficiency, how schools that need support for improvement are identified by the state, how schools can get out of the turnaround program, and how schools with a single D grade fit in the requirements for improvement. The state has until Oct. 4 to respond. Florida is the only state whose ESSA plan has not been approved. Gradebook.
Alarming false alarms: False fire alarms and emergency drills are causing trauma to students who were at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School during the shootings Feb. 14 that left 17 dead, they say. “They’re hearing the same sound that brought them all into the hallway where the shooting really started taking place,” says Dr. Nicole Mavrides, director of the child psychiatry program at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine. “It can really bring out symptoms of post-traumatic stress.” The Parkland school has had one active shooter drill, two fire drills and five false alarms since school began Aug. 15. Students are responsible for three of the false alarms. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. (more…)
