Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Colorado School Safety Committee Propose 5 Bills for 2020 Legislature

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 11/04/19

Colorado’s school safety committee approved five out of 11 draft bills, advancing them to the upcoming legislative session that begins in January, reported the Denver Post. The interim legislative committee formed after a fatal shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch in May. The bills drafted by the bipartisan committee stayed away from controversial ideas like arming teachers and instead focused on student mental health and safety training.

The committee unanimously passed two bills: one that would reorganize an already existing safety program called Safe2Tell anonymous tip system and allow the attorney general to disclose Safe2Tell information in the event of an imminent safety risk, and another that would create a working group that would include the departments of Education, Public Safety, Public Health and Environment and Human Services to continue studying school safety.

Other bills focused on student mental health. One would require school districts to include behavioral health needs as a reason for an excused absence, alongside physical health problems. Another would require the School Safety Resource Center to create a working group to examine the lack of residential treatment options for youth and propose solutions. Another bill would expand mental health training for teachers.

The committee unanimously voted for a resolution to express support for the I Love U Guys Foundation’s school safety efforts.

The committee is headed by Rep. Dafna Michaelson Jenet.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Planning with Clarity: Using AI to Make Better Campus Decisions, Not Just Better Designs

    Higher education leaders are being asked to make increasingly high-stakes decisions about campus facilities amid greater uncertainty than ever before. Social and economic pressures, shifting enrollment, and evolving learning models compete with growing deferred maintenance needs to strain even the most robust infrastructure budgets.

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Universities Continue to Launch Multimillion-Dollar Campus Transformations

    What makes the current wave of campus development especially noteworthy is its emphasis on multi-use functionality and community integration. Institutions are no longer investing solely in academic or athletic facilities in isolation. Instead, they are creating destinations that blend recreation, health, housing, and event-driven economic activity.