Marion County Public Schools on May 22 presented its updated comprehensive mental health plan — required by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act — outlining new hires, screening tools and community partnerships intended to expand access to mental-health services for students.

The plan, presented by district mental-health staff, recommended using the state'provided Mental Health Assistance Allocation to add 17 school-based positions for the coming year: one additional school counselor, five additional school psychologists and 10 additional school social workers. The district said 90 percent of the MHAA budget will be used to fund direct student-facing mental-health staff.

Why it matters: Florida districts must use the mental-health allocation to lower student-to-provider ratios and meet statutory safety and behavioral-support requirements. Board members used the presentation to probe screening procedures, community capacity and whether school-resource officers (SROs) have coordinated training on assessment and de-escalation.

Highlights from the presentation included:

- Screening and progress monitoring: The district is using a teacher-rated behavior observation tool at the elementary level (BASC-3 or similar) to identify externalizing behaviors and piloting a self-report screener at two secondary sites (Fort McCoy Middle and Horizon Academy). District staff emphasized that multiple data sources (teacher ratings, parent/staff referrals and multidisciplinary-team review) inform intervention decisions and that teacher feedback will be collected biweekly to track intervention effects.

- Staff increases and allocation: The plan would add 17 school-based providers and district-level mental-health positions, funded largely through the state allocation. Presenters said reducing provider caseloads will allow more direct intervention for students.

- Training: The district reported that 97 percent of staff have completed the required youth mental-health first-aid training, exceeding the state'mandated 80 percent verification level.

- Threat and suicide assessments: Presenters said this school year saw the highest number of threat assessments in six years. The district highlighted that roughly 80 percent of threat assessments are summarily closed at the school level (unfounded, self-harm only, or low-level threats). District staff also reported an overall trend of stable suicide-assessment counts but a spike in threat assessments.

- Community partnerships and response: District staff said they will continue working with local agencies (SMA Healthcare, BRAVE and others) to expand mobile response, service navigation and family engagement. After the district coordinated with SMA Healthcare to boost mobile-response availability, school teams reported fewer student Baker Act transports.

Board Q&A and next steps

Board members asked how quickly newly assigned SROs receive mental-health and de-escalation training and whether families can opt out of secondary-level screening. District staff said certified mental-health professionals complete suicide-risk assessments and SROs are engaged only when a case is high-risk; staff also explained that student-level screening on secondary campuses would require opt-in parental consent under current statutes and the Parent Bill of Rights.

Staff said they will continue coaching school teams on progress monitoring and will add the BRAVE service-navigation partnership to refer families and confirm whether they engaged with community services.

Ending: The district requested the board'level review of the plan and said it will continue to bring data and progress-monitoring results to the board. Members asked for continued updates on threat-assessment trends, SRO training protocols, and capacity for community referrals.