Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law several bills related to enhancing school safety and expanding access to mental health resources.

“After the horrific shooting in Santa Fe and the subsequent school safety roundtables, I made school safety an emergency item to help prevent a tragedy like this from happening again,” said Governor Abbott. “Today, I am proud to sign legislation to make Texas schools safer for students and teachers. I thank members from both chambers, as well as the many stakeholders, who worked tirelessly to get these bills through the Legislature and to my desk today.”

Senate Bill 11 (Taylor/G. Bonnen) strengthens emergency preparedness and response protocols, improves school facilities standards, establishes better threat assessment protocols, and provides schools more funding for school safety efforts. The bill also establishes the Texas Child Mental Health Consortium to leverage higher education expertise in the state to improve the mental health care systems for Texas children.

House Bill 18 (Price/Watson) increases mental health training for educators and other school professionals to aid in early identification and intervention, emphasizes importance of mental health education for students, and improves access to mental and behavior health services through school based mental health centers and the hiring of mental health professionals.

House Bill 1387 (Hefner/Creighton) removes the cap on the number of school marshals that may be appointed per campus.