Florida School Superintendents: ‘Now Is the Time’ to Deliver Student Mental Healthcare
April 30, 2018
By: Margie Menzel
Source: WFSU Public Media
Last week, Florida’s 67 district school superintendents held a mental health summit to address what they’d already considered a crisis before the Parkland tragedy. Led by Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie, the summit drew lawmakers, behavioral health providers and state agency heads to Orlando for what many called an unprecedented gathering.
The summit had been in the works for months. It was actually the second one; the first had been in January, just weeks before Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Ironically, it had been Broward’s Runcie, president of the Florida Association of District School Superintendents, who led the group to address student mental health, which he considers a grave crisis.