Bill would mandate suicide prevention training for Nevada school staff

Licensed staff in Nevada’s schools would be required to receive training on suicide prevention and handling students exhibiting warning signs under a bill heard Thursday by the Assembly Committee on Education.

Assembly Bill 114, sponsored by Assemblyman John Ellison, R-Elko, also would expand an existing law that requires the State Board of Education to adopt regulations for certain courses of study — including suicide prevention. The bill specifically requires regulations for such a course designed for grades 5-12.

The bill would require every school board and charter school to ensure that all licensed staff receive training, including warnings signs that a pupil may be suicidal and on how to refer students to the appropriate services.

Nevada has the 11th highest suicide mortality rate in the nation, according to 2017 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lynette Vega, founder of the organization Zero Suicides Elko County, shared with committee members how she found out her daughter died by suicide at 23 while serving in the Air Force.

“While Rachelle was in high school she had friends die by suicide,” Vega said. “That’s when I should’ve acted on being an advocate — not after my daughter died. As a mother and an educator, I did not know how to talk to my daughter about her friends who died by suicide.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.

Contact Amelia Pak-Harvey at apak-harvey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4630. Follow @AmeliaPakHarvey on Twitter.