School Resiliency Upheld in SB 2
Following the shooting at Marshall County High School in 2018 where two students were killed, the 2019 Kentucky Legislature passed the School Safety and Resilience Act. The act addresses the issue of trauma and children’s mental health in schools. The act was revised in 2020 and in the 2024 session, the General Assembly introduced additional changes through SB2. At a time where we are witnessing a mental health crisis in children and teens, aggravated by the pandemic, many of the provisions of SB2 will contribute to addressing the crisis. There are some elements in SB 2 the Foundation does not agree with, particularly the part that establishes the “Guardians” program. But overall, there are positive elements we’d like to highlight.
Trauma-Informed Practices in Schools
SB2 keeps the focus on trauma-informed practices in schools and trauma-informed teams and plans to help build resiliency and wellbeing in all students. Given that Kentucky has one of the highest prevalence rates of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) in the country, these measures to address trauma and toxic stress in children will help reduce the long-term negative health outcomes of ACEs experienced, benefiting all students in the process.
The law adds more mental health members to the trauma-informed teams, and makes the school district trauma-informed plans public annually through the Comprehensive District Improvement Plan (CDIP) and the Comprehensive State Improvement Plan (CSIP). It also requires each district to have an anonymous reporting tool available to students, parents, and the community to report information and threats.
The law enhances the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE) role in gathering and reporting data and accountability. KDE will gather the numbers and types of mental health professionals in schools and the amount of Medicaid billing annually for mental health services. KDE will also gather the district trauma-informed plans and analyze them and report annually to the Kentucky School Board and the Interim Joint Committee on Education of the Legislature.
Suicide Prevention Training
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Kentuckians ages 15-24.[1] Students in middle and high school are seeing rising rates of serious psychological distress, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. Knowing the signs and how to respond to these situations could be life-saving information.
SB 2 improves suicide prevention training in schools. The training must be evidence-based and provided in grades 6-12 to all students and all staff. It will now be offered twice a year instead of only in September, and efforts need to be made to provide training to students who miss it. Given the increased suicides in younger students, staff that serve 4th and 5th graders will also now be included in the training thanks to SB2.
This is not a comprehensive examination of the new law. You can read more about SB 2 here.
[1] https://www.chfs.ky.gov/agencies/dph/dmch/cfhib/Pages/ah.aspx#:~:text=Suicide%20is%20the%20second%20leading,19%20during%20the%20last%20decade.