JACKSONVILLE, Texas — A bill filed in the Texas Legislature aims to increase school safety through providing additional mental health training for school resource officers.
Jacksonville ISD Police Chief Officer Bill Avera testified in Austin on behalf of House Bill 4777.
Avera said his goal is to not only increase school safety, but to also help officers build those relationships with students.
"It's critical that we have those relationships, and that those officers are able to talk with those students on a daily basis," Avera said.
This bill will give officers additional training and education regarding mental health conditions like trauma and grief.
"The officers being able to recognize behaviors that might indicate that they have been exposed to grief, or trauma and over their lives, is very important to help us maintain a safe and secure environment," Avera said.
Rep. Mihaela Plesa, author of the bill, noticed the lack of training for our officers on the effects of mental health and behavior.
"This training will empower our SROs to better identify things, to become better involved with our kiddos, and to better interact in a quicker fashion around getting treatment and and helping our kids out that are that are really, really facing some some really hard time," Plesa said.
According to the Texas Education Agency, one in six kids in school experience mental illness.
"We're having a mental health crisis in our state," Plesa said.
This bill will educate the officers in different mental health conditions that students experience, so they can direct the students to the right resources.
"I will be an advocate for making sure that we add that to the to the training, whether it's mandated by law or not. Because it's that important," Avera said.
Plesa said if the bill is passed by full legislature, then it will be implemented in September. Officers could start training as early as October and by the time students are back at school next year, they will have training around this issue.
Avera said Jacksonville ISD is fully prepared to make any upgrades to the campuses to ensure school safety.