Dear Friends,
The Legislature is back this week following our Easter and Passover break during the first week of April. With about a month and a half to go, there are still a number of issues left unresolved. It is sure to be a very busy stretch run.
I encourage you to take a moment to visit this link to watch a short video I recorded with Rep. Eric Lucero regarding global warming.
Another issue that has been gaining a lot of headlines is school safety. Following the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, a national conversation regarding school safety has been dominating the airwaves. Here in Minnesota, we’ve been working diligently to find common ground with a variety stakeholders to make sure we’re doing all we can to keep our students safe.
At the end of last month, House Republicans unveiled a series of initiatives that work to improve school safety and access to mental healthcare.
Our multifaceted approach allows for hiring more school resource officers, student counselors and mental health professionals in addition to making critical building security upgrades.
I am proud of the initiatives we have brought forward this session that focus on real, tangible steps to improve safety at our schools. The commonsense approach we are taking will truly make a difference in the lives of students and teachers. These are concrete steps we can take today to secure our schools.
Here are some more details on the things we are proposing:
- 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.
- School-based threat assessment teams established to assess, intervene, and report threats facing students, teachers, and staff.
As always, if you have any questions regarding this legislation or any other matter of state government, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I can be contacted by phone at 651-296-4229 or via email at rep.glenn.gruenhagen@house.mn.
Thank you and have a great weekend,
Glenn