The Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force recently released recommendations on how to prevent school violence.
The recommendations follow six regional roundtables earlier to discuss how to allocate the $60 million Act 44 will provide for school security funding.
“It’s a mental health issue, it’s a technology issue, it’s a personnel issue – it’s something that we really need to take very seriously,” State Sen. David Argall (R-Schuylkill), chairman of the Senate majority policy committee, said at a roundtable this month.
Recommendations include increased access to mental health services, training, and evidence-based practices, and improved communication and information sharing.
Senate Bill 780 would support access to telemedicine services across the state. The bill has the support of the state’s hospital and physician communities that are urging the House to pass the legislation.
The funds will be distributed by March 2019. Each of the state’s 500 school districts will receive at least $25,000.
Funds can be used for training, safety and security assessments, security planning, conflict resolution and dispute management, school resource officers, school-based diversion programs, and adding counselors, social workers, and psychologists.
The task force was established in March as a response to school shootings across the country and increased rates of bullying and violence reported by Pennsylvania students.