Franken addresses school safety ideas

Sen. Al Franken visited an Eagan middle school on Monday to talk with administrators, safety experts and counselors on how to improve school safety just three weeks after the Newtown shootings.

The private session included proposals for tighter perimeter security, lockdown drills and more mental health professionals, Franken told reporters afterward. The Minnesota Democrat said he would bring the ideas back to Congress, but didn't say what recommendations he would make.

"In the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, we are looking at a lot of issues regarding school safety, regarding mental health," said Franken, who has been working on legislation to bolster funding for mental health services in a variety of areas.

Issues of school safety, gun control and mental health have come to the fore since 26 people, 20 of them children, were killed in the Dec. 14 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

President Obama has made reducing gun violence a priority in his second term. His plans could include increased mental health checks for those looking to buy a firearm. The National Rifle Association called for putting armed security guards in schools and the creation of a database of the mentally ill.

In Minnesota, Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, said he plans to introduce a bill this legislative session that would allow teachers to carry weapons. The 2013 legislative session begins Tuesday.

Franken is co-sponsoring a bill to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines but was noncommittal about whether he supports renewing an assault weapons ban.

"We are not going to prevent every incident in the United States," Franken said. "One of the things that we need to do better is identify mental health issues earlier in a child's life.

According to the Minnesota School Counselors Association, Minnesota has the second-lowest ratio of school counselors to students in the nation, with about one counselor for every 800 students.

Gary Amoroso, executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA), said the state's budget woes have made it difficult to hire counselors and social workers at schools. MASA plans to push the Legislature for more money to do so in 2013.

Franken, a member of the Senate Education Committee, said he's pushed for more appropriations for school counselors since he joined the Senate in 2009.