The Florida Department of Education Office of Safe Schools (OSS) is required to monitor compliance with school safety through announced and unannounced on-site visits to schools and district facilities or offices. The review of safety compliance is completed through physical inspection of schools, reviews of safety documentation, interviews with students and staff, review of media reports, and other information submitted to or received by the Office.
Some of the items that are audited are related to:
Exterior security and fencing
Physical and technological security practices and measures
Safety policies and procedures
Drill and training requirements
Security personnel and staffing
Emergency communications, notifications, and reporting
Behavioral threat assessment procedures
In February, the OSS completed audits for six of our district schools. The results were zero suspected safety compliance issues and zero suspected best practices compliance issues.
As well as the planned compliance audit of schools they randomly select, the OSS will visit the district unannounced and complete “drop by” visits. On Thursday, May 9th, seven of our schools were randomly chosen by the OSS and reviewed for Safe School Officer certifications (Youth Resource Deputy and PCSD Guardian coverage). We are proud to share that the OSS reports finding “no issues” with our SSO coverages.
Dr. Surrency, Superintendent, stated, “We are extremely grateful for the diligence of our Department of Safety Director, Travis Weaver, to ensure every school is following all safety expectations every day. His leadership, along with a strong partnership with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, ensures we are prepared to protect our students and staff in a threatening situation.”