HARRISBURG, Pa. — As kids return back to school, one state lawmaker is eyeing ways to improve school safety.
Sen. Mike Regan's newly proposed Senate Bill 907 would require school districts to employ an armed, trained and vetted school security person at every school during school hours.
It would also allow school boards the ability to have armed guards stationed on school grounds during extracurricular activities.
“Adding armed staff is part of a very comprehensive plan," said Joey Melvin, the director of the Center for Safe Schools, an organization dedicated to providing school security resources.
He added that if implemented correctly, having armed school security could be part of a school district's comprehensive safety plan.
“It can be a tremendous way to really enhance processes that currently exist, to help with their behavioral threat assessment processes, to help with their emergency planning, and practices and trainings," said Melvin.
Last year was the deadliest year for school shootings in the US. According to data from the Washington Post, more than 43,000 students experienced gun violence in their schools in 2022.
“Students want to know their schools are safe and parents want to know their children will come home at the end of the school day,” Regan said. “The safety of students, teachers and school staff should be a top priority. Students deserve a safe environment where they can learn and grow, and teachers should not have the sole responsibility for protecting our kids.”
Regan says his proposal would require safety personnel to comply with vigorous training and certification requirements, including lethal weapons training and training on interacting with students.
“Many school districts haven’t done what is considered by school security experts as the most effective method of deterring acts of violence, and that is putting an armed, trained and vetted officer in every building,” the senator said. “The time to fix that is now, before another school falls victim to a heinous act of violence.”
However, some advocates say the proposed bill would not be that effective in improving school safety.
“Even if they can stop a situation from getting worse, it ultimately still means that lives have been potentially lost or severely injured," said Adam Garber, the executive director for CeaseFirePA.
Garber argues that state lawmakers should focus on preventative measures against gun violence, such as ‘red flag laws' and 'safe storage laws.'
“Let’s get ahead of the problem, save those lives, get the person the help that they need, and that would be the true gift to students that would really keep people safe," he explained.