Monroe County schools earn Suicide Prevention Certified District designation; banners and training planned

District staff announced June 18 that Monroe County School District has been designated a Suicide Prevention Certified District, the district said the first school district in Florida to achieve that district-level certification. The designation follows multi-year work on policy, staff training and student-focused prevention programs.

Daliana (spelled in transcript as Dahliana) and staff coordinated the certification process, which required each school to complete school-level certification steps including policy alignment, training and calendar scheduling for required programs. The district will distribute school banners and suicide-awareness pins to staff; the district plans to observe Suicide Prevention Month in September and to promote World Suicide Prevention Day on Sept. 10.

Staff noted the district already offers student-level programs (signs of suicide for grades 6-12 and a mandatory five-hour mental-health instruction requirement for grades 6-12) and that the certification process relied on threat-management training conducted with the U.S. Secret Service that included community partners such as juvenile-justice, Department of Children and Families, State Attorney's Office and local law enforcement.

Ending

District staff said banners will be installed in schools and that staff pins and additional training will be distributed; staff framed the designation as recognition of multi-year prevention work and training coordination across community partners.