FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT
H
” ope is being able to see that there is light
despite all of the darkness.”
-Desmond Tutu
I recently re-discovered that quote by the 1984 Nobel Peace
Prize winner. I am constantly amazed at how such
inspiration hits me at just the right time. I am not normally
one to look back for too long. I’m much more interested in
what’s ahead of me than behind me. But as this school year
is now underway, with all the anticipation and unknown
challenges ahead of us, we all must look back at the end of
the last school year. So much has changed because of the
actions of a lone teenager during a six-minute attack on
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Other schools had
experienced violence before February 14, 2018 and, sadly,
other schools have experienced violence following
Parkland. Students across Florida, including student leaders
in our own schools demanded action from their political
and educational leaders in the darkness in the aftermath. I
have hope though. Students here in Flagler County have a
vision and desire to take an active role in keeping their
fellow students safe. They were the light in the darkness
surrounding us all.
We have so many great opportunities on our campuses for our students. Our Flagship Program is growing as we show
this newest generation the career possibilities right here in our county and our region. We are offering more and more
acceleration programs such as dual enrollment with area colleges and universities to give those students who want the
additional educational challenge.
Yet all of this does nothing if we cannot provide our students, teachers, and staff a safe environment. That is why we
worked so hard with Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly and his staff to quickly put together a plan to secure our campuses. It
was important to me that our educators educate and we leave security to our trained, professional law enforcement. Both
Sheriff Staly and I continue to work with State Senator Travis Hudson and State Representative Paul Renner to find the
funding needed to protect our children.
The debate over arming teachers, staff or volunteers versus using existing law enforcement grabbed most of the
headlines this summer. Not nearly the same amount of attention was paid to the push to add mental health professionals in
our school districts. Here in Flagler Schools, we saw the importance of mental health a few years ago and began adding
school psychologists and mental health counselors. Our goal of a psychologist at every school remains and we are close to
achieving that, in spite of the competition from larger districts with larger budgets.
Safety cannot be achieved only through what I’ve laid out before you. We must have the support of our parents and
significant adults at home. Open lines of communication between you and your student. Know who their friends are and
what they’re doing if they’re online. All our school-based employees underwent mandated Incident Survival training before
the start of this school year. One statistic which jumped out at many of this is, according to the FBI, 100% of all school
attacks had “leakage.” By this, they mean the student doing the violent act told at least one person they were going to do
something. They may not have shared details, but it was enough for that one person to warn an adult or law enforcement,
who could then take actions to prevent something from happening.
So, as I look ahead, I continue to see the light in the darkness around us. I have hope. So should you.
Enthusiastically Yours,
JA MES TAGE R, F L AGLER S C HOOL S S UPE RIN T EN D EN T
4 | FL AGLER
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