DeSantis Signs Law to Strengthen Florida School Safety

Miami, June 7- Two weeks after the massacre at a school in Texas (USA) in which 21 people were shot to death, the Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, signed a law on Tuesday that seeks to increase safety in state educational centers with special emphasis on the mental health of students. 

The new state law requires school districts to certify annually that at least 80% of school staff have training in youth mental health.

In addition, school staff should be trained in mental health “crisis intervention” and improve their knowledge to respond to and reduce incidents in schools. 

In his state budget, the governor also approved $140 million for mental health and $210 million for school safety.

“All children need a safe and secure learning environment,” the Republican governor said in remarks collected in a statement. 

The Florida Legislature approved the bill one day after last May 24, when a young man armed entered an elementary school in Uvalde (Texas) and killed 19 children and 2 teachers. 

The state of Florida has reinforced school security and emphasized the mental health of students in 2018 the young Nikolas Cruz entered his old high school in Parkland, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, and murdered 14 students and 3 members of the school staff. 

The enactment of this school safety law comes just as state lawmakers must show their opinion this week on the Democrats’ project to hold a new special legislative session to deal with gun violence in the state, reported the NBC6 channel.

Driven by the shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo (New York), where 10 people died, the Democratic plan is based on Floridian legislators debating measures to strengthen control over the sale and possession of weapons.