HARRISBURG - Bills to provide more state aid for school safety programs are seeing action more than a month after a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school galvanized public attention on the issue.
Two Senate committees have scheduled a hearing Feb. 13 on the topics of school emergency plans and security with a focus on legislation being introduced by Senate President Pro Tempore Joseph Scarnati, R-25, Jefferson County, to provide $9.5 million more annually for school safety grants. School superintendents, principals and teachers and state officials are scheduled to testify at the joint hearing by the Education Committee and the Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee.
"Every day care, school, college and university must have an emergency plan in place, and they need to be able to carry it out," said Sen. Lisa Baker, R-20, Lehman Twp., chairwoman of the emergency preparedness panel. "Law enforcement and other emergency personnel need the training and capacity necessary to prevent or respond to a crisis large or small."
Mr. Scarnati's proposal would authorize schools to use state safety grants to help pay for armed security, security planning, security devices such as metal detectors and surveillance equipment and educational efforts to prevent violence and resolve disputes without violence.
The state Office of Safe Schools currently awards about $500,000 annually in safety grants to schools.
"Clearly we need to step up as a commonwealth," said Mr. Scarnati noting that many schools already employ armed police and school resource officers to provide protection.
Meanwhile, Rep. Kevin Haggerty, D-112, Dunmore, is meeting with lawmakers and state officials to line up support for his bill to provide state funding for the cost of having school resource officers in public, charter and parochial elementary schools. The bill would appropriate $90 million for a grant program.
Mr. Haggerty said Friday that he anticipates both federal and state aid will become available to help schools hire school resource officers.
Mr. Haggerty said it would be a mistake for the state to mandate that schools hire officers and not provide funding for it.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com