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Sarasota school leaders talk spending for expanding mental health services

The Herald-Tribune - 5/5/2021

May 5—Correction: Sarasota County Commissioners are not considering a referendum to create a new special taxing district.

Mental health is at the center of discussions taking place among Sarasota County leaders.

As county commissioners consider plans on the creation of a new special taxing district to pay for mental health services, school leaders are emphasizing how important expanded mental health services are, especially in the aftermath of COVID-19.

On Tuesday, the Sarasota County School Board met with leaders from the Florida Center and First Step Sarasota to discuss a significant expansion of the services both nonprofit agencies provide to Sarasota schools.

The Florida Center provides mental health clinicians to the district's elementary schools, while First Step works with students in middle and high school.

Florida Center Chief Operations Officer Kristie Skoglund said she hopes to double the number of mental health clinicians within the district's elementary schools.

"It's a really big job," Skoglund said. "They work for us and are also in the schools, so they are often split between the duties for the organization and the duties for the school."

Former Sarasota County Sheriff and First Step CEO Tom Knight is pushing for several new positions, including three program managers to oversee specific geographic areas within the county. The program officials are also asking for new mental health therapists in each middle school and high school.

Knight highlighted how effective the agency's mobile response team had been in responding to a school if a student is at risk for suicide or self harm, and he said an expansion of the program would yield immediate results.

"It's going to be huge for our district, huge for the community," Knight said.

If the clinician is able to deescalate the student and the student does not need to be involuntarily committed, they immediately connect them to mental health service and counseling services for the family.

Knight presented data showing that 120 possible involuntary commitments had been diverted through early intervention by the district's Mobile Response Team and that more than 1,000 students were currently engaged in some form of counseling or mental health therapy.

"How can students learn if they are not feeling well?" School Board member Tom Edwards said. "If they are not doing well, if they are in trauma with their family, how can they learn?"

It's not clear at this point how much in funding the School District will receive in mental health funding from the state, and county commissioners have not yet solidified how much they will consider asking for property owners to contribute.

Board chairwoman Shirley Brown urged county commissioners to "be bold" as they consider raising property taxes to fund mental health services.

The Sarasota County School Board began taking steps to hold a special election in March 2022 to renew an optional one-mill ad valorem property tax. The current tax sunsets in June 2022. One mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

Board vice chairwoman Jane Goodwin said a special election, which the district has to pay for, makes more sense because if the board waits until the November 2022 midterm elections, then the tax will have expired already and the district would have to go one year without the millions in revenue the district relies on every year.

Goodwin preemptively pushed back on criticism over holding a special election, which tends to have drastically lower turnout than a general election, by saying that a March election would coincide with the time period when Sarasota has the highest number of property owners living in the county.

Ryan McKinnon covers schools for the Herald-Tribune. Connect with him at ryan.mckinnon@heraldtribune.com or on Twitter: @JRMcKinnon. Support the Sarasota Herald-Tribune by subscribing today.

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