Mental health, schools focus of St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting. (St. Augustine Record)

When you watch the meeting and read the article, you'll know the Record missed a lot!

 Mental health, schools focus of St. Johns County Legislative Delegation meeting

Many policy, funding requests made, though speakers acknowledged COVID-19 reality

Sheldon Gardner

St. Augustine Record

December 21, 2020

Joyce Mahr, CEO of the Betty Griffin Center, which provides service to people who have experienced domestic violence or sexual assault, speaks to St. Johns County's Legislative Delegation on Dec. 18 at the St. Johns County government auditorium at San Sebstian View in St. Augustine.

With the impacts of COVID-19 bearing down on the state budget and upcoming legislative session, some people who approached St. Johns County's Legislative Delegation kept their requests modest ― asking for funding for critical efforts at the same level, nothing new. 

Still, more than 40 speakers from elected bodies, schools and higher-learning institutions, nonprofits, community groups and other organizations spoke to the delegation at Friday's meeting at the St. Johns County government auditorium at 500 San Sebastian View in St. Augustine. 

Major topics included getting recurring funding for mental health services in St. Johns County and keeping public schools at the current level of funding.

State Rep. Paul Renner pointed out the state's budget challenges heading into the next session.

But, he added, "We're going to do our very best." 

Other members of the delegation, Chair and State Rep. Cyndi Stevenson and State Sen. Travis Hutson, were also there. 

St. Johns County School District Superintendent Tim Forson thanked the delegation for its efforts in securing more mental health and school safety support for the district. 

As part of a partnership with Flagler Health + and other agencies, the district has seen "a huge increase" in referrals for services over the past year, he said.  

"It's thankful that we have a community that has these many different agencies … that have just provided a high level of participation by families in both mental health counseling and support and other social services that extend from that," he said.

He also thanked the delegation for the state's efforts to increase teacher funding. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill this year to raise the minimum teacher salary, with St. Johns County getting about $8 million.

Eighty percent had to be used to raise starting teacher salary, and 20% went toward raises for veteran teachers. In an interview with The Record in November, St. Johns Education Association President Michelle Dillon called the legislation “egregiously inequitable."

Forson asked the legislative delegation for ongoing support.

“I know it’s difficult in the course of this year to stay the course with teacher compensation, but thank you," he said. "The idea of recruitment and retention of teachers is important, and this was a huge step. I do ask for consideration and a look at benefiting all teachers as we move forward, and continue to raise the bar for all teachers so that salary is something that is sustainable."

He also asked the delegation to work to maintain the district's ability to raise local tax revenue at the same level, which helps the district deal with growth. 

“We’re at about a 2% growth rate in a year that most districts actually went the other way," Forson said. 

People also asked for a bigger focus on mental health.

Throughout COVID-19, the Florida Assertive Community Treatment team, or FACT team has continued to serve St. Johns and Putnam counties. The group, managed by SMA Healthcare, includes psychiatrists, case managers, nurses and other professionals who care for "hundreds of the most severely mentally ill" people in the area, said Sandra Jackson, vice president of St. Johns County services for SMA Healthcare.  

The team helps keep people stable by administering medication, taking them to appointments and providing other services. 

“Just in this past fiscal year, greater than 90% of our FACT participants remained psychiatrically stable and didn’t need to be admitted to any local or state hospitalizations," she said. 

Jackson asked for more funding for the effort and recurring funding in the state budget, instead of having to make a new request each year.

“The reality is that non-recurring funding doesn’t take into consideration that severe and persistent mental illness is not a short-term or a non-recurring illness," she said. 

The presentations covered a wide range of other requests. There were funding requests for Ponte Vedra Beach beach restoration and traffic improvements; planning for sea level rise; building State Road 313; more affordable housing options for local workers; water and land conservation; West Augustine septic-to-sewer conversions; flood-reduction projects; higher-learning programs; and historic preservation, among others. 

And there were policy requests, such as keeping local control over vacation rental regulations, passing protection for business owners against COVID-19 lawsuits and increasing the number of judges in St. Johns County to help meet the demands of population growth. 

The meeting was recorded and will be posted on the St. Johns County government website at sjcfl.us/gtv/WatchGTV.aspx. 

Hutson encouraged people to reach out to his office or the office of the state representatives if they have other comments or concerns. 

The legislative session begins March 2. 

“Thank you for everybody that came," Stevenson said. 

― Reporter Cassidy Alexander contributed to this report.