Michigan House approves bipartisan school safety and mental‑health package

LANSING — The Michigan House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a package of bills aimed at tightening school safety procedures and strengthening student mental‑health supports, voting on several measures that lawmakers described as the remaining recommendations of a bipartisan post‑Oxford task force.

Proponents said the bills close gaps in how tips from the statewide “Okay to Say” system are handled, require periodic updates to school emergency response plans, and expand training for school resource officers and other school personnel. The package passed in multiple separate roll‑call votes for individual bills.

Supporters framed the measures as commonsense steps to ensure tips submitted by students about suicide, bullying, assault, drug use or potential threats are routed and acted on quickly. Representative Regas, who opened debate in favor of the package, said the reforms aim to “close the loop” so tips are not lost in backlogs. Representative Steele said one bill would print the Okay to Say tipline on student ID cards to make the resource more accessible.

Key provisions…