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District reports near-compliance on school-safety inspections; inspectors found paperwork and access issues at a few schools
Summary
District safety staff reported on state and district safety inspections required by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act, saying Sarasota County Schools is 100 percent compliant with safe-school officer presence but inspectors identified paperwork issues and a few unsecured doors or gates during the prior school year.
Chief Enos and School Safety Specialist Jason Overbey presented the district's quarterly safety and security report, a statutorily required update tied to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act. Overbey said the district is 100 percent compliant with safe-school officer assignments and summarized the results of state and district inspections for the prior year.
Overbey said state and district inspectors conduct unannounced visits and review roughly 150 items during each assessment. Of the inspections conducted last year, most findings centered on missing or hard-to-access certification paperwork after the state moved its records to a new website, new threat-management training documentation, and a rule change affecting how drill paperwork must be completed.
Overbey told the board there were also physical-security issues at a small number of campuses: two schools had open or unlocked classroom doors cited on inspection, and one campus had a back gate left unlocked (the gate led only to a service area and did not provide public access to occupied school spaces). He said those items were addressed as part of follow-up work.
"We're 100% compliant with all safe school officers across all of our schools," Overbey said, and he thanked staff for work preparing campuses for inspections.
Why this matters: The Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act requires regular safety inspections, threat-management training and related documentation; the district must maintain records and follow state rules. Inspectors' findings about drill paperwork and certificates reflect both the district's need to adapt to state procedural changes and the importance of maintaining complete documentation. District staff said they will continue inspection and reinspection activity and will return to the board with further required reports.
Next steps: Staff said they will continue to address documentation issues, re-run any required training completion checks, and follow up on physical-security items identified during inspections. No formal board action was requested or taken at the workshop.
