School safety was at the top of everyone’s minds this legislative session. Here’s a roundup of what passed and what didn’t.
Lawmakers increased funding for school security grants. Chris Perkins is chief of security for Roanoke City Public schools. He says they’ve used the grants to help purchase a system that vets school visitors.
“It’s a very flexible grant and when schools do their homework, no pun intended, but when they do their homework that grant can be very beneficial for a district,” said Perkins.
Now districts can access double the funding they used to.
In addition to physical infrastructure, another focus this year was on school counselors. A new law mandates they spend 80-percent of their time actually counseling, rather than administrative tasks.
“So this is really going to give them the opportunity to do the kind of work that I think they really want to do and love to do,” said Helen Dunn with Albemarle County Public Schools. “We’re happy and pretty eager actually to work towards that.”
What didn’t pass this year was an attempt to create a student mental health commission. The group would have explored ways to implement a statewide tipline.
What also didn’t go anywhere was gun control. Democratic efforts to make firearms part of the school security debate fell flat in the Republican controlled legislature.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
