Gov. Tom Corbett has signed a bill that will require teachers to be educated on suicide prevention and awareness, beginning the 2015-16 school year.

House bill 1559 was introduced by Rep. Frank Farina on June 20, 2013, and was signed into law last month as Act 71.It requires that teachers of grades six through 12 in public school districts, charter schools, cyberschools, intermediate units and area vocational technical schools take part in four hours of training on suicide prevention every five years, which supplements the regular professional development credit hours that are already required.The training would help educators identify at-risk students.Models for the four-hour training are to be developed by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania Department of Health.Previously, at-risk individuals were handled on a district by district basis, and five years ago, the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services applied a grant that was used to put risk assessment tools in primary care doctors' offices.The grant, from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, was especially necessary for Schuylkill County. It was among the top three counties with the most suicides in the state.Doctor's offices were soon able to give their patients the option to complete an online survey that determines whether or not they are at risk of suicide.According to Linda Wagner, co-chairman of the Schuylkill County Suicide Prevention Task Force, the survey was beneficial."I do think it's helped because it's given the doctors some background information. It gives the doctor a starting point," she said.However, she wonders what kind of funding will support new projects implemented in 2015 when the bill becomes effective.Tamaqua Area School District Superintendent Carol Makuta said the district will use procedures that have proved successful for past mandates.Even before the 2015-16 school year, the board will draft and adopt a policy for awareness and prevention.Training will be done by current staff and administration on in-service days.Lastly, the school will integrate suicide awareness and prevention into its curriculum."In consultation with the faculty, we will review the Department of Education's model curriculum and determine an appropriate placement in our current curriculum while making sure the content is standards-based," Makuta said.Suicide claims the lives of over 1,300 Pennsylvanians annually and is the third leading cause of death in people ages 15-24.Jim Tkach, founder of the Bo Tkach Foundation, began his commitment to educate people on the reality of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and depression when his son, a graduate of Northern Lehigh High School, ended his own life."There are so many miscommunications over suicide and depression," Tkach said."It's really difficult for kids to get help when their parents and their teachers don't understand what's happening. They want to understand, but they can't," he said.Tkach frequently visits schools to speak about suicide and depression to students and faculty, and he said that Pennsylvania schools have always welcomed him.According to Tkach, one of the main misconceptions about depression is that it is a disease."These are bright, brilliant, vibrant kids who become prisoners to a chemical imbalance," he said.For some schools in the area, the legislation may have come just in time.In March, a 13-year-old Panther Valley student attempted suicide by cutting her wrist, later claiming she was not taken seriously by the administration when they were informed that she had been bullied.However, Tim Grazio, guidance counselor at Panther Valley High School, says that situations involving suicide are not to be ignored."I totally support (the bill). It's an issue that's been skirted for a long time," Grazio said.