School Safety & Legislative Wrap-up

Post date: May 19, 2019 6:27:06 PM

From CO PTA: School Safety and Mental Health Resources

All students and educators have a right to attend schools that are safe and conducive to learning and achievement, yet schools are experiencing increasingly frequent incidents that are having a devastating, long-term impact on students, parents, educators, and the community.

It is imperative that families are actively engaged in creating safe and supportive schools for our children. National PTA has developed resources for parents and PTAs to support parents in becoming effective, successful school safety stakeholders.

Below are four Colorado PTA Health, Wellness, and Safety Parent Information Sheets for your review:

• • Keeping Kids Safe When Guns are in the Home

  • Suicide Proofing Your home

  • Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide

  • Warning Signs

Additional Information Sheets including the Family Guide – Systems of Care for Children with Mental Health Needs and Suicide and Mental Health are available on the Colorado PTA website, listed under Health, Wellness, and Safety.

From CO PTA: Legislative Wrap-up

During the 2019 session of the Colorado General Assembly, the PTA Legislative Committee took positions on 83 bills and testified 32 times on PTA top-priority bills. Almost all the bills PTA supported passed, and almost all the bills PTA opposed did not pass. PTA is pleased in particular about the following:

• • Full-day kindergarten will be fully funded statewide (i.e., free!) beginning this fall.

  • About 5,000 more at-risk children will be able to access the Colorado Preschool Program.

  • High school students eligible for reduced-price school lunch will get lunch for free.

  • Per-pupil funding will increase by 4.3%, and the “negative” factor (a cut in funding below what Amendment 23 would have required) will be cut by about $100 million from what it was last year, making it half of what it was during the height of the “Great Recession.”

  • Several million dollars were budgeted for various programs to provide more mental health, behavioral health, and suicide prevention services and supports to students and families.

  • The Colorado Oil and Gas Commission will be required to consider public health and safety first before approving new wells.

  • Local governments will be allowed to regulate nicotine, including raising the age to 21 for the purchase of tobacco products.