District to submit 2025-26 mental-health plan after reporting rise in Tier 2 interventions

At the July 8 workshop, Flagler County School District staff presented a wrap-up of the 2024-25 mental-health plan and the proposed 2025-26 plan and budget. District leaders said the program will be submitted to the Florida Department of Education by the August deadline and asked the board to approve the plan when it returns July 22.

Staff described the mental-health framework as a multi-tiered system of supports. Tier 1 covers universal supports for all students; Tier 2 covers school-based interventions for students showing mild-to-moderate needs; Tier 3 covers clinical services provided by licensed clinicians for students with diagnosed mental-health conditions; and Tier 3 intensive refers to a small subset requiring wraparound multi-agency services.

District counselors said the number of students recorded at Tier 2 rose substantially in 2024-25, in part because staff were more intentional about documenting Tier 2 interventions. Staff reported roughly 1,863 students identified districtwide, about 1,851 referrals made for external or clinical services and approximately 1,474 students who actually received a service (some referrals remained open at the time of reporting). Counselors said Tier 3 and Tier 3 intensive counts dipped modestly, which staff portrayed as a sign that earlier Tier 2 intervention may be preventing escalation.

Asked about involuntary-examination (Baker Act) incidents, staff said the district's campus-level incidents are a subset of county totals, and clarified that the Baker Act counts discussed are incident counts (one student could account for multiple incidents).

Budget: the district uses the state's Mental Health Assistance Allocation (MHAA) and said funding was essentially flat for the coming year. Chief financial staff said roughly 90% of MHAA dollars now support salaries for an in-house mental-health team; district leaders said building an internal clinical team has been a deliberate strategy rather than fully outsourcing clinical services to community providers.

Mr. Fanelli told the board, "Our funding is 90% absorbed in salaries. We're one of a few districts that decided to build an in-house mental health team." Staff said the plan has been recognized by the state as a strong example and that existing local partnerships (AdventHealth and the Ed Foundation) and a DJJ diversion grant support district services.

Next steps: staff will present the final 2025-26 mental-health plan and budget for the board's signature at the July 22 meeting so the district can upload the plan to the DOE by the August 1 deadline.

Provenance: Mental-health presentation opens at 01:31:26 and continues through the budget and plan discussion (01:31:26—01:51:12).