Students Hope Abbott Can Bring Change to Schools

By Emily Martin
Assistant News Director

With Governor Greg Abbott’s recent reveal of a 40-point recommendation plan, schools in and around Santa Fe, Texas are hoping to see change within the campus environment.

The plan comes after a student shot and killed 10 of his classmates at Santa Fe High School four weeks ago. Abbott wants to see a stronger collaboration with schools and local law enforcement in order to prevent events like Santa Fe from happening again.

In nearby schools, students feel like they are not being adequately protected from intruders.

Mikayla Wood, recent Deer Park High School graduate, wishes that there would be strong measures taken to ensure security.

“When students leave for lunch when they are not supposed to and they don’t have an ID the security guards tend to brush it off,” Wood said.

Wood feels that when the school brought in local law enforcement, she felt safer than what the security guards could provide.

Abbott’s plan not only focuses on making students feel more safe but also brings additional mental health services to campuses statewide.

Wood says that she didn’t feel like the counselors on campus were really concerned about mental health unless a student was suicidal.

“I think the counselors were more focused on other things and not really focused on mental illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder,” Wood said.

According to the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI), one in five youths aged 13 to 18 will experience a mental disorder sometime in their life.

Abbott plans on increasing mental health first aid training during the summer and quickly implementing all 40 of his recommendations.

Featured image by Emily Martin.