Aug 31, 2018 2 min read

Not surprisingly, the newly released report from the Pennsylvania School Safety Task Force cites the need for greater security measures in the state’s public schools, and better training for school personnel.

That might include the hiring of additional police (resource) officers, physical barriers to better protect school buildings and the installation of more surveillance cameras.

But the task force also found that there’s a desperate need for more mental health resources for students.

“I am not convinced, at this point, that every school district is making mental health counselors available to every single student,” said state Auditor General Eugene DePasquale at a news conference following the release of the report. “That’s something that’s critical and needs to get done very fast.”

According to a TribLIVE story, the task force, which was formed in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting earlier this year, found that Pennsylvania has a student-to-counselor ratio of 387-to-1, compared to a ratio of 250-to-1 that is recommended by the American School Counselor Association.

“The main goal (of the task force) was to provide actionable advice for families, communities, schools and state agencies to help prevent school violence,” said DePasquale. “Many times, the tools and resources for implementing these recommendations are already available. They just need to be used. You’ll see that most of the recommendations are for state-level agencies to take the lead in providing the necessary resources for school districts to rely on.”

In a story earlier this month, the Observer-Reporter outlined some of the steps our school districts have taken to improve security, from installation of metal detectors to hiring of police officers. It is our hope that the districts take just as seriously the need to improve access to mental health resources for their students, and that the state will support these efforts with the necessary funding.