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District rolls out crisis-alert badges, updates safety reporting and proposes policy changes
Summary
Pinellas County Schools reported districtwide rollout of crisis-alert badges for 13,000+ employees, completion of Office of Safe Schools site-visit remediations, and first readings of policy amendments aligned with recent state laws; the board approved the annual safety report and advanced policy amendments to a second reading in December.
Pinellas County Schools presented its annual safety and security report on Oct. 14 and advanced a set of policy amendments linked to recent state legislation.
Sean Joel, the district’s director of safety and security, described the implementation of a district strategic crisis-alert badge program that the district said was deployed before the start of the school year to more than 13,000 employees across 132 sites. Joel described the badge as a technological addition that provides staff the ability to alert responders and initiate law-enforcement notification during critical incidents. "We were successfully able to implement this program before the start of the academic year," Joel said, adding that training and awareness accompanied issuance.
Joel also described compliance steps required by state law that now require reporting of threat-management meetings and documentation to a statewide Office of Safe Schools portal; he said district staff completed training on the Florida model and updated threat-management reporting before the statutory deadline. The Office of Safe Schools conducted 59 site visits to campuses (including public and charter) and, Joel said, identified primarily administrative and documentation discrepancies that the district remediated with training and procedural changes.
Leanna Ison, director of strategic planning and policy, summarized first readings of proposed amendments to three district policies: 24.23.01 (career and professional education) aligned with House Bill 1145; 5500.07 (code of student conduct — wireless communication devices) aligned with House Bill 1105 to restrict use of wireless devices in elementary and middle schools; and 8405 (school safety) aligned with Senate Bill 1470 to add requirements for after-action reports following emergency drills. Ison said the amendments largely restate updated statutory language; the second reading is scheduled for December.
The board approved the required annual safety and security report by voice vote (7–0). Board members commended the safety team’s training and said the district’s work with the Office of Safe Schools strengthened compliance.
Outcome and next steps: The annual safety report was accepted (7–0). Policy amendments received a first reading and are set for a second reading in December, at which point the board may adopt final policy language.
Actions taken: The board approved the district's 2024–25 annual safety and security report and advanced the three policy amendments to second reading.
