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The governor and lawmakers should pay special attention to mental health when looking to improve the safety of Virginia’s schoolchildren.

Credit is due budget writers in the Virginia House of Delegates for responding to recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force on School and Campus Safety with some money for mental health programs.

Of all the initial recommendations for avoiding a repeat in Virginia of the slaughter at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Conn., these are the ones that deal with preventing, rather than defending against or punishing, another assault on a school.

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