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Matanzas High School

Brendan Depa Was Baker Acted Immediately After Sentencing: ‘I’m Going to Die in Jail,’ He Wrote

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Brendan Depa, the 18-year-old sentenced to five years in prison Tuesday for beating Joann Naydich, Depa’s paraprofessional at Matanzas High School, in February 2023, was immediately Baker Acted from the county jail afterward when jail staff saw he had written on a sheet of paper that he was going to die in jail. His mother said he feared being killed by other inmates or dying of his own hand.

Brendan Depa’s Sentencing Set to Conclude 3 Months After It Started: ‘I’m Going to Accept Whatever Happens’

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Brendan Depa, now verging on his 19th birthday, returns to court Tuesday after a three-month hiatus to conclude his sentencing hearing on a charge of attacking Joan Naydich, the paraprofessional assigned to him as a student with special needs at Matanzas High School, in February 2023. The sentences Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will impose is unpredictable, other than that it will not be anywhere near the 30-year maximum.

Flagler School District Yet Again Stuck at a B for 3rd Straight Year, But All Schools are at A or B

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A third of Florida’s school districts scored an A in the 2023-24 school year. The Flagler County school district was not among them. For the third year in a row, and for the 10th of the last 11th grading years, the district remains stuck at a B, one of 26 districts in that pack. Seventeen districts scored a C. None scored lower. Two districts were not graded. The Florida Department of Education released the grades today.

Janie Ruddy, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 3: The Live Interview Template

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Janie Ruddy is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Derek Barrs in District 3. The District 3 and District 5 seats are both open as incumbents Colleen Conklin and Cheryl Massaro have opted not to run again. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.

Vincent Sullivan, Flagler County School Board Candidate District 5: The Live Interview Template

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Vincent Sullivan is one of four candidates in two races for Flagler County School Board in the Aug. 20 primary, facing Lauren Ramirez  in District 5. School board elections are non-partisan races: all registered voters in Flagler County are eligible to cast a ballot in the two races–whether registered Democratic, Republican, Independent or from a minor party.

Brendan Depa’s Sentencing Will Not Resume Until Aug. 6, Giving Defense Time to Recover from Bad Day

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The defense for Brendan Depa, the 18-year-old former Matanzas High School autistic student to be sentenced in the beating of his teacher’s aide, faces a steep climb back from a prosecution case that portrayed Depa as a willful, intelligent, chronically violent man who knows right from wrong and who knew what he was doing that day at Matanzas. The prosecution is developing an argument that sidelines Depa’s autism as irrelevant, and calls prison time essential. The defense has yet to make its case.

At Brendan Depa Sentencing, Prisons’ Mental Health Chief Draws Bizarrely Rosy Picture of Services Awaiting Him

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To hear Suzonne Kline, chief of mental health at the Florida Department of Corrections, mental health services in Florida prisons are so extensive, so thorough, so attentive, you’d want to get imprisoned just to get a piece of them. She testified during the first portion of the sentencing hearing of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School autistic student who pleaded to severely assaulting his teacher aide, and is facing the possibility of prison time. Kline’s testimony was a tactical success for the prosecution.