District reports heavy use of Fortify Florida tips, announces Office of Professional Standards

Chief of Police Tim Enos told the board that district and state inspections continue to find unsecured classroom doors as the most common on-site deficiency but said most schools passed reinspection. He also provided a Fortify Florida update: "At the point of this report, Sarasota County had received 810 tips for the 25‑26 school year," Enos said, adding that about 99.5% of tips had been closed at report time.

The tips distribution showed 26% related to bullying and harassment and 25% to vaping; 9% were complaints about staff members. Enos credited school safety and threat‑management staff for statewide recognition of the district’s work and asked the board to continue supporting safety staffing and training.

Superintendent Connor explained the district’s intake and investigative process for complaints (currently more than 323 open investigations this year) and announced creation of a dedicated Office of Professional Standards. He said the office will centralize case management, improve coordination with HR, school police and external agencies and reduce the investigative burden on principals.

Board members asked that the superintendent provide periodic, high‑level investigative metrics to the board — including agency referrals, outcome categories and trend data — to support oversight while preserving confidentiality.