Madison – Today the Assembly Committee on Education held a public hearing on a package of six bills to address school safety. The package is part of the special session called for by Governor Walker, and includes one bill authored by Representative Spiros (R-Marshfield).
Special Session Assembly Bill 2, authored by Rep. Spiros, would create an Office of School Safety within the Department of Justice. This office would have a number of responsibilities, including coordinating with the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to create model practices for school safety, as well as offering training to school staff on school safety.
“We all want the peace of mind of knowing our children are safe at school,” Spiros said. “This bill allows the Department of Justice and our schools to work together and share resources to ensure they are as trained and as prepared as possible to deal with an emergency.”
The bill would also require schools to share blueprints and geographic information maps with the Office of School Safety and with local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction over the school district. This will aid law enforcement with taking action in emergency situations.
The other bills in the package include those that would provide grants to schools for school safety, require mandatory reporting of suspected intent to carry out violence, a model policy on bullying, creation of school safety plans, and a plan to allow school boards to share safety camera footage with law enforcement.
The bills are scheduled for an executive session in the Assembly Committee on Education on Wednesday.
