Where I Stand on Supporting At-Risk Students

By Curtis Campogni, Candidate for Pinellas County School Board, District 3 at Large

As a candidate for Pinellas County School Board District 3 (At-Large), I believe it’s important to be clear about where I stand on how our schools support students with the greatest needs.

Consider the following fictional scenario.

A middle school student, we’ll call him Jordan, enters a Pinellas County school mid-year.

What the school sees is a student who struggles to regulate emotions, reacts quickly to perceived conflict, and has difficulty trusting adults.

What the school does not immediately see is the full context.

Jordan recently entered foster care after significant instability at home. He has changed placements. He has lost familiar routines. He is carrying trauma that shows up as behavior.

Without that shared context, Jordan’s behavior is addressed through standard disciplinary responses. Referrals increase. Suspensions follow. Each removal from the classroom reinforces a sense of rejection and instability.

Eventually, an incident escalates. Law enforcement becomes involved. Jordan becomes justice-involved, not because anyone wanted that outcome, but because systems responded in isolation instead of coordination.

At that point, Jordan’s school placement changes again. He is removed from his campus and enrolled in virtual education, despite struggling with structure, motivation, and independent learning.

Predictably, his engagement drops further.

What began as unmet support needs becomes deeper system involvement, additional trauma, and fewer pathways back to a traditional school environment.

Now imagine a different outcome.

In this version, early communication exists. The school understands Jordan’s background from the start. Child welfare, school staff, juvenile justice, and community partners are connected. Warning signs are identified early.

Supports are coordinated instead of reactive.

Jordan still struggles, but he isn’t pushed out. He stays connected to school. Interventions are adjusted before crises occur. The trajectory changes, not because of a single program, but because adults worked together.

Jordan graduates.

He enrolls in Pinellas Technical College, where he discovers a talent for welding. With structure, mentorship, and hands-on learning, he thrives. Over time, he earns certifications, builds a career, and becomes financially stable.

Years later, Jordan is working as a welder, supporting himself, contributing to the community, and earning a six-figure income.

Not because his challenges disappeared, but because systems communicated early, responded thoughtfully, and kept him connected to opportunity.

That difference, coordination versus isolation, is what this conversation is about.

Why I’m Raising This Issue

I have worked with state-funded juvenile justice programs for more than 15 years and currently serve on the Pinellas County Juvenile Justice Advisory Board. I am also a parent of two children in Pinellas County public schools, and my wife and I adopted our children through Florida’s foster care system.

I share that not as a credential, but as context.

I have seen how Pinellas County Schools, child welfare, juvenile justice, and community providers all serve the same at-risk youth, often at the same time, but not always together.

And what I have learned is this: Pinellas County is resource-rich. The programs are there. The professionals are there. The commitment is there.

What’s missing is coordination.

The Real Problem Isn’t Resources, It’s Communication

Pinellas County has a wide network of services supporting students involved in foster care, juvenile justice, and other high-needs situations. Schools, the Department of Children and Families, the Department of Juvenile Justice, and community-based providers all play important roles.

But too often, those roles operate in silos.

Programs don’t always know what schools are seeing. Schools don’t always understand the full context behind a student’s behavior. And community providers don’t always have a clear pathway to raise concerns early.

By the time issues surface, a student may already be facing suspension, expulsion, or deeper system involvement.

This is not a failure of care. It is a failure of connection.

Why This Matters to Every Student and Family

In my Listen and Learn sessions, parents regularly raise concerns about:

• School safety

• Classroom disruptions

• Whether schools have adequate support for students with complex needs

Those concerns are valid.

What’s often overlooked is that supporting at-risk youth more effectively improves outcomes for all students.

When systems communicate better:

• Safety issues are identified earlier

• Behavior escalations are reduced

• Educators feel less isolated

• Classrooms are more stable

Demonstrating that we are doing everything possible to support every student is critical, not just for outcomes, but for restoring confidence in public education across Pinellas County.

As enrollment declines and school choice expands, maintaining the confidence of families considering our public schools is more important than ever.

A Practical, Nonpartisan Solution

This is why I propose creating the BRIDGE Council.

Bridging

Resources for

Integrated

Development and

Guidance in

Education

This would not be another layer of bureaucracy. It would not be a compliance panel . And it would not exist to assign blame.

Instead, it would bring together:

• Pinellas County Schools

• Juvenile justice representatives

• Child welfare partners

• Community organizations working directly with at-risk youth

The focus would be straightforward:

• Information sharing

• Early warning identification

• Collaborative solutions

This committee would report publicly to the school board once per month, creating transparency and shared accountability without overstepping authority.

What This Would Look Like in Practice: Early, Proactive Collaboration

To understand how this approach would work in real life, it helps to return to Jordan’s story, this time before challenges escalate.

Early Identification, Not Crisis Response

Jordan enrolls mid-year, and it is also identified that he is involved in the foster care system. Either factor alone can signal transition risk. Together, they warrant early coordination, not discipline.

This is not about labeling a student. It is about recognizing that transitions and placement changes often require additional support to be successful.

A Clean Handoff From Day One

Because Jordan meets these indicators, an initial collaborative handoff meeting is triggered.

The purpose of this meeting is simple:

• Ensure everyone understands who is already supporting Jordan

• Identify what services and partners are involved

• Establish clear points of contact

• Prevent gaps in communication before problems arise

At this stage, the focus is not on behavior. It is awareness and alignment.

Identifying Existing Partners at the School

The committee identifies partners already serving students at Jordan’s school, such as:

• On-campus or contracted mental health providers

• Community organizations serving foster youth

• Mentoring, case management, or behavioral support programs

Rather than duplicating services or competing for referrals, the goal is to connect existing supports and coordinate them effectively.

Privacy, Confidentiality, and Responsible Information Sharing

Any collaborative approach must respect confidentiality and existing legal protections. This proposal does not change those rules.

Information would only be shared in compliance with current confidentiality laws and consent requirements. No new data collection is created, and no private information is broadly shared.

When a youth is already involved in systems like foster care or juvenile justice, their case is already being staffed to some extent. This proposal simply shifts that coordination earlier and makes it more intentional.

The goal is not more information sharing . It is better timing, clearer coordination, and fewer surprises.

Monitoring Progress Without Waiting for Failure

As Jordan settles into school, progress is monitored collaboratively. Concerns are addressed before discipline escalates. Supports are adjusted early.

Jordan remains connected to school.

Not because challenges disappeared, but because adults planned ahead instead of reacting later.

What This Committee Is Not

This is not:

• A blame exercise

• A program competition

• A referral-stealing effort

• A political statement

It is a shared problem-solving space.

The goal is to hear, “I didn’t know this was happening,” followed by, “How do we fix it together?”

What Success Would Look Like in Pinellas County

If this approach is working:

• Parents of at-risk youth feel supported

• Educators have clearer pathways for help

• Suspensions and expulsions decrease

• Safety incidents decline

• More students stay connected to school and graduate

Most importantly, the community sees that public schools are not being asked to solve complex challenges alone.

My Bottom Line

This isn’t about politics. It’s about communication, coordination, and outcomes.

We already fund the programs . We already employ dedicated professionals. We already care deeply about kids.

The missing piece is a consistent, collaborative space to bring it all together.

That’s where I stand.

Let’s Keep It Real

I’m not speaking in hypotheticals.

I have lived this, as someone who has worked alongside juvenile justice programs for years, as a foster and adoptive parent, and as a dad with kids in Pinellas County public schools.

When coordination breaks down, it isn’t abstract. It shows up as missed support, unnecessary escalation, and kids being pushed further away from opportunity.

And when collaboration works, it changes trajectories.

Every student deserves support. Every student deserves dignity. And every student deserves a real chance at success.

Raising the bar isn’t about lowering expectations. It’s about raising how we meet students where they are and how we work together to support them.

That’s not theory.

That’s lived experience.

And that’s the work worth doing.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of Curtis Campogni, Candidate for Pinellas County School Board, District 3 at Large, and do not represent the official position of any organization or governing body.