Members of a new committee that will review how Colorado school districts can best handle students’ mental health issues and keep schools safe were announced Monday by Gov. John Hickenlooper.
The legislative committee includes parents, a superintendent and officials who work with children with mental illness. It was created by to study school safety and mental health issues in students.
Specifically, the committee will study and “evaluate programs and methods for identifying and monitoring students in crisis, developing standardized criteria for school personnel to use in assessing the potential threat posed by one or more students,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
The group also will examine the implementation of Senate Bill 213 — the companion bill — that made school districts liable for school violence by raising a school’s responsibility for safety to a duty of “reasonable care” and allowing an exemption to governmental immunity. It means school districts for negligence to get information and some financial damages.
Both bills were drafted with input from the parents of in the December 2013 shooting at Arapahoe High School.
The new committee includes:
• Gregory Thomas McDonald of Broomfield, a licensed school counselor.
• David J. Crews, superintendent of Norwood Public Schools in southwest Colorado.
• Heidi Ganahl of Superior, a parent.
• Melissa Ann Silvia of Sheridan, a parent.
• Sharyl Kay Lawson of Aurora, a licensed school educator with experience working with children with disabilities.
• Linda Weinerman, the executive director of the Colorado Office of the Child’s Representative.
• Kate O’Donnell Angevine of Denver, a member with experience in child or adolescent mental health issues.
• Christine Rankin Harms of Lafayette, a member who has experience with school safety and the prevention of violence.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yeseniarobles
