IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF THE FIFTEENTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT IN AND FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA PRESENTMENT OF THE PALM BEACH COUNTY SPECIAL GRAND. JURY REPORT ON SCHOOL SAFETY WINTER TERM A.D. 2018 RARER ENON CHER ERE R ER EH EH EH EHEE EEE EHH OEE DAVE ARONBERG State Attorney MARY LYNN POWELL Assistant State Attorney Chief Juvenile Division MICHAEL J. RACHEL. Assistant State Attorney Unit Supervisor White Collar Crimes May 23, 2018TABLE OF CONTENTS I INTRODUCTION. Il. OVERVIEW. 1. Ratio of School Police To Students. A. City of Boca Raton/Boca Raton Police Department. B. City of Boynton Beach/Boynton Beach Police Department. C. City of Delray Beach/ Delray Beach Police Department. D. City of Jupiter/Jupiter Police Department. School Shootings In General..........4++++ . Weapons In Our Palm Beach County Schools.. . Goals And Motivations Of The School Shooter. . Digging Into The Psyche Of School Shooters. . Active Shooters Events.......- ISCUSSION....... : . Hardening Our Schools A. Hardening of Staff. i. Code Red Active Shooter Training And Drills. ii. Trauma Injury Training-What If A Shooter Gets In. B. Hardening of Students C. Hardening of Facilities Fence Lines And Gate: Id Checked And Single Point or Entry. Buzzer Panic Button... iv. Surveillance Video Cameras, v. Impact Glass. vi. Automatic Locks. Metal Detectors... |. Gun Sniffing Dogs. 2. Schools Need More Law Enforcement ‘Officers A. The Palm Beach County School District Police i. By The Numbers... ii. What Is the Right Number of Police in Our Schools?. iii. The SDPBC Looking At Plans Post Parkland B. Should the School District stick with the School Police model’ i. The major positives for having a PBCSDPD, ii. The negatives of keeping the school police in the current form.... iii. Is PBSO a better option in school policing?..... foe WAAR Ml. rgsvaesVI. eo VIL. . Mental Health. C. What is the School District doing now? A hybrid plan. i. Can the School District afford more police right now?. A. SDPBC Digecient of Safe: Schools B. School Counselors. C. Social and Emotional Learning. D. Behavioral Health Professional: E. School Psychologists....... F, Multi-Tiered Support Services. Other Important Topics. A. Is There Transparency Between School District And School Board? Are Changes Needed? ...cccsccse B. What Is the Parent’s Role?.... C. Council for Great City Schools Report. CONCLUSION. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS. DISTRIBUTION REQUEST. CERTIFICATE OF PRESENTMENT.I. INTRODUCTION In the wake of a rise in school shootings, culminating with the horrific mass shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida, Dave Aronberg, State Attorney of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida, called for a Grand Jury to investigate how government agencies within Palm Beach County (PBC) are addressing the issue of school safety and whether there are practical systemic changes that could be made to improve school safety to protect our school campuses. The Grand Jury was asked to make appropriate findings and recommendations on how our government agencies can better align resources with security goals and what changes do we need to make so our schools are as safe and protected as possible. In other words, ‘What can PBC do to harden our school campuses against an intentional school shooter?” and “What can we do if PBC had to go it alone without Federal or State help?” “[A] grand jury may investigate the actions of public bodies and officials concerning the use of public funds.” Jn re Grand Jury Invest. Of Fla. Dept. Health and Rehab. Servs., 659 So. 2d 347, 350 (Fla. 1* DCA 1995). Such a grand jury has the “right to express the view of the citizenry with respect to public bodies and officials in terms of a ‘presentment,’ describing misconduct, errors, and incidences in which public funds are improperly employed.” Miami Herald Pub. Co, v.Marko, 352 So. 2d 518, 522 (Fla. 1977). As explained in Kelly v. Sturgis, 453 $0.2d 1179, 1182 (Fla. 3" DCA 1984): Grand juries have a lawful function to investigate possible unlawful actions for all persons, private citizens, and public Officials alike, and to return indictments when warranted. As Marko notes, grand juries also have a lawful and proper function to consider the actions of public bodies and officials in the use of public funds and report or present findings and recommendations as to practices, procedures, incompetency, inefficiency, mistakes and misconduct involving public offices and public monies. See also Appeal of Untreiner, 391 So.2d 272 (Fla. 1* DCA 1980). The School District of Palm Beach County (SDPBC), the law enforcement agencies in our county, and ancillary public agencies that provide support to the schools are funded by our local, state and federal taxpayer’s dollars. ‘The citizens of PBC alone are contributing nearly 64% to the district's total revenue! for fiscal year 2017-18. This 64% of funding comes from the taxes we pay on our homes and other real property. Additionally, because of the “ONE CENT SALES TAX” passed by voter referendum on November 8", 2016,? for every dollar spent on goods or services in PBC, the SDPBC gets one half of a penny. The rest of the SDPBC’s funds come from State and Federal sources, i.e. PBC and other state and federal taxpayers. *§ 1,443,719,508 out of a total revenue stream of $ 2,240,744,083 ~ all tax revenue. See Distriet School Budget for 2018, ? One Cent Sales Tax approved by Palm Beach County voters by a percentage of 56% to 44%; passed on November 8, 2016.Since the SDPBC is completely dependent on the citizen taxpayer for revenue, the Grand Jury and the people of this county have a right to ensure that these monies are used in the most appropriate ways, especially when it comes to keeping our 193,000 plus school children, 27,000 plus school employees, first responders and the surrounding communities safe. The Grand Jury heard testimony and received evidence from a wide range of witnesses that include national experts in public security and school safety, local safety specialists, high-ranking officials from various PBC law enforcement agencies, and the Palm Beach County School District Police Department (PBCSDPD). The Grand Jury heard testimony and concems from teacher and administrative representatives, School Board members? and representatives of the SDPBC*. Additionally, the Grand Jury also sought opinions from mental health experts to see how our school district is handling mental illness and children in crisis in our schools. After receiving testimony and evidence, the Grand Jury focused on the following issues of concem: 1) What is the current status of security in our schools? 2) Is our SDPBC adequately providing for the protection of the people on our school campuses? If not, why? 3) Does our SDPBC have the financial resources right now to improve school safety? If not, where else can those funds or resources come from? 4) Is there a need for new 2 The Schoo! Board is comprised of the 7 elected officials. The statutory duty of the Boards to approve the budget and set pois. The Board has only 3 employees: the Superintendent, the Inspector Genetl andthe General Couns “The School Districts comprised of the Superintendent, Assstant Superintendents andall other administatve officers, personnel and stafflegislation or to change current legislation? 5) Is there free and open communication between the PBCSDPD and the SDPBC so that our school police have what they need to protect our campuses? 6) Are the PBCSDPD and other law enforcement agencies in the county communicating and coordinating to address school threats and overall safety in our schools, and 7) Do the School Board and District need to change with the times to improve school security? For instance, is it no longer feasible and financially prudent to have the PBCSDPD, rather than the Palm Beach County Sheriff"s Office (PBSO), providing security at our schools? 8) Do the SDPBC and Board need to improve the staffing and proper utilization of mental health/counseling experts in our schools? 9) Are the students provided adequate mental health services and programming? IMPOR [DER The Grand Jury received evidence relating to school safety that is sensitive in nature, We learned about the strengths and weaknesses in some of the protective layers in our public schools. Although the Grand Jury received enough evidence to make this Presentment a litany of tactical and strategic concerns in our school defenses, we refrain from the specifics for the obvious reason that we would not want to put our schools at risk. Hence this Presentment is intentionally written in general terms. VT NOTE TO THE Furthermore, this Presentment is by no means a direct criticism or attack against any single employee of the school district. In fact, the school district has been very cooperative and forthcoming in this Grand Jury's investigation. The Grand Jury has been made aware through the investigative process that the district is already moving ahead with security projects mentioned in this Presentment. The Grand Jury fully understands the enormity and scale of this vexing issue of school safety and the fiscal constraints faced by the District. The