Virginia Capitol Connections Winter 2019

The Speaker’s “Do-Something” Committee Issues Recommendations By Speaker M. Kirkland Cox

Having taught in our public school system for 30 years, I know there is nothing more important as a teacher than ensuring students are able to learn in an environment free of distractions. In recent years I fear that students concern for safety has become a distraction therefore limiting their ability to learn and apply themselves to their fullest potential. In March, following the shooting in Parkland Florida, I knew the House of Delegates could make a difference. That is why I formed the Select committee on

I am proud to say once again, while Virginia has led the nation in recent years in school safety, I am confident the work of this committee will help in protecting our students while still affording them the opportunity to learn in an inviting and nurturing environment for generations to come. Speaker M. Kirkland “Kirk” Cox is a Republican representing the 66th House District, which includes Colonial Heights and Parts of Chesterfield County.

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School Safety, the first Select Committee to be formed in more than 150 years. The House of Delegates led the effort in recent years to make our schools safer, but the tragedy in Parkland showed us that we must be ever-vigilant when it comes to school safety. The Select Committee comprehensively reviewed state and local policies on school safety and made recommendations to the General Assembly. InNovember, after the full committee and the subcommittees hadmet more than a dozen times in locations across theCommonwealth, the Select Committee received nearly 60 recommendations from the three subcommittees all focused on improving school safety in schools across Virginia. From there the committee released a final report outlining 24 priority recommendations. These recommendations are the product of the collaborative, consensus-driven approach taken by the Select Committee in 2018. The priority recommendations focus on re-aligning our school counselor duties to better serve students, addressing mental and behavioral health in schools, improving training and school security infrastructure, and providing a list of best practices for localities. One recommendation is to re-align the roles and responsibilities of school counselors to emphasize direct student services including emotional, behavioral, career, and life counseling and guidance. Right now, school counselors are often doing a number of other duties—like test proctoring—instead of focusing on the needs of our students. If we allow counselors to actually counsel, they will have more time to connect with more students. Another recommendation is to create a statewide tip line application for mental health and suicide prevention so students can access real- time crisis-intervention counseling and report threats of violence. This is modeled after a concept in Utah that has proven successful at stopping school violence in real time. The priority recommendation list also includes increased funding for the Center for School and Campus Safety, new School Resource Officer positions, and additional School Security grants. These targeted investments will help us provide educators with the knowledge they need, make sure our students are protected by qualified law enforcement professionals, and make sure our schools are safe and secure. The list also includes best practices for localities on mutual aid agreements, school design and security planning, and infrastructure improvements. While we do not want to create unfunded mandates, these proposals are smart and should be implemented by localities. Another key recommendation includes the creation of a Student Mental Health Commission to continue to study additional aspects of mental and behavioral health. These are complicated and multi-faceted issues that don’t have easy answers. We can continue to work together in a collaborative way to address some of these topics. In my opening remarks at our first Committee meeting, I stated that my goal was for this to be a “do-something” committee and that our final product was going to be comprehensive and consensus-driven. I believe we have accomplished this goal. The priority recommendations are indicative of the creative and thoughtful process the subcommittees and committee as a whole undertook as we conducted our work.

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V irginia C apitol C onnections , W inter 2019

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