Next week is funnel week in the Capitol. That basically means it’s crunch time, and most bills need to have passed committee before next Friday. This week, we worked hard to finalize bill drafts on a few priorities so we can meet the funnel deadline.
Two of those bills relate to school safety. The tragic shooting at Perry High School brought school safety to the forefront of this session. We’ve been meeting with school administrators, law enforcement, private companies, and teachers to develop legislative solutions that will make our students and staff safer at school. This is not a problem we can fix with one solution. So, we are tackling this issue through multiple approaches.
House Study Bill TBD
The first bill, which has not yet been numbered, will be in the Appropriations committee and will focus on infrastructure. Policies in this bill include:
- Schools are required to complete a comprehensive review of their school safety and emergency response plans and submit this review to law enforcement before the 2024-2025 school year.
- Creates a fund to install radios capable of accessing the Statewide Interoperable Communications System in all school buildings that don’t currently have them.
- This radio system helped law enforcement coordinate their response to the shooting at Perry High School.
- Implement firearm detection software in three schools of different sizes through a new pilot program.
- Establish a task force to create recommended school safety standards in building code.
- Beginning in 2026, schools would be required to meet these school safety standards before using any SAVE funds on athletic facility projects.
The second bill focuses on personnel able and ready to protect students in the event of an emergency. Policies in this bill include:
- Schools with enrollment over 8,000 students shall employ at least one school resource officer or private security officer. A grant program is created to match funds to help schools pay for these positions.
- Creates a new permit that allows a school employee to carry weapons. The requirements for this permit are strictly prescribed and extensive.
- This course must include one-time, in-person legal training and annual medical training and communication training.
- The Department of Public Safety shall implement a required, annual live scenario training and quarterly live firearm training for permitted school employees.
I believe these bills contain common sense solutions that will make a big impact on school safety. People choose Iowa because our state is viewed as safe. In Iowa, every parent should be able to send their kids to school and trust that they will return home safe.
The first bill I outlined should be viewable on the Legislative website on Monday. We will certainly talk more about these policies as session continues.
