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Senate concurrent resolution 43 passes to highlight SREB plan for sustained crisis counseling support
Summary
The committee approved a resolution supporting an SREB plan to train and deploy school-based counselors for extended recovery after mass tragedies, with sponsors saying the plan uses the PREPaRE curriculum, aims to train 40 counselors per state and seeks to leverage SREB dues to cover start-up costs.
The Senate Standing Committee on Education unanimously approved Senate Concurrent Resolution 43, a measure that recognizes a Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) initiative to train and coordinate school-based counselors for extended recovery support after mass tragedies and other major incidents.
Sponsor Sen. Steve West and Dr. Stephen Pruitt, president of SREB, described the initiative as a regional effort to provide stabilization and psychological first-aid in the months after a crisis — "the 3 to 370-day plan" — when local systems continue recovery needs after initial response.
Pruitt said the proposal builds on lessons from the 2018 Marshall County school shooting, when Kentucky rotated counselors to support schools for roughly a year. He said PREPaRE is the curriculum intended for the training: "Prepare is a very specific curriculum that supports counselors in an education environment after this kind of event," Pruitt said.
Under the plan described to the committee, SREB would train a target of about 40 counselors in each of its 16 member states (roughly 640 counselors total), maintain an in-region coordinator to manage deployments, and cover travel, room and board costs for counselors when they are deployed. Pruitt told senators he will ask SREB's board to raise member dues by $10,000 per state to fund training and upkeep, but he said SREB's board chair, Governor Brian Kemp, had already committed funding to begin training and that Kentucky would not be asked for the $10,000 in the immediate budget cycle.
Linda Tyree, identified as director of the Kentucky Community Crisis Response Team (KCCRT) and the Green River Regional Educational Cooperative crisis response director, said six of eight educational cooperatives in Kentucky already maintain trained teams and regional coordinators; she will help manage training for SREB.
Senator Wilson moved adoption of the resolution; Senator Neal seconded. The roll call vote was 13 yeas, 0 nays. The committee reported the resolution with the committee's opinion that it should pass.
Committee members praised the initiative as a low-cost way to expand recovery supports for rural and under-resourced districts and affirmed the committee's support.
