Intermediate school districts would hire dedicated mental health and safety staff under a bipartisan package introduced this week in the Michigan House of Representatives.
The legislation reflects some of the recommendations of the “House School Safety Task Force” formed after November’s deadly shooting at Oxford High School.
A new state budget sent to the governor funds some of those priorities like a new commission to support at-risk students. But it left out money for others—including the dedicated mental health and safety staff.
Democratic Representative Kelly Breen says part of that might be because the task force’s final report isn’t out yet.
“We want to make sure it reflects everything that we’ve spoken about and also explains why we were making these recommendations.”
Breen says she’s optimistic a future spending bill would take care of areas like a mental health professional internship grant program.