Dear Neighbors,
School Safety
Earlier today, I joined my House Republican colleagues to talk about our push to increase school safety. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for every school, but I think our proposals, as a whole, would go a long way to make Minnesota schools safer. Some of the bills we’re working on include:
- My bill for school-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers, and staff.
- School resource officers, student support personnel, and other school security programs funded through increased Safe Schools revenue, including a floor level of funding for small schools.
- School building security upgrades, and expanded use of Long-Term Facility Maintenance revenue for security projects, including emergency communications systems.
- School-linked mental health programming to ensure better outcomes for all kids.
- Physical security audit grants to provide state assistance to review facility security and crisis management policies.
- Suicide prevention training for teachers to help educators learn how to engage and assist students experiencing mental distress.
I’ve been working on school safety bills for much of this session, and am pleased to see my legislation to establish threat assessment teams in schools as part of our overall school safety package. These measures will help to keep Minnesota schools safer for years to come.
Capitol Visitor
Today, my granddaughter Lily spent time with me at the Capitol. She joined me for this morning’s press conference, got pretty comfortable in my seat on the House floor, and even sat through part of the Public Safety hearing. It was a fun time during a busy point in session.
Please Contact Me
The legislature is heading into Easter break so I’ll be back in our area next week. Please call or email my office and we can set up a time to meet in the district.
Enjoy your weekend and Happy Easter,
Keith