Holcomb Requests $5M More For School Safety Funding

Gov. Eric Holcomb wants lawmakers to deliver an additional $5 million this year for schools to spend on safety upgrades.

Indiana currently spends $10 million a year for school safety grants, which fund security improvements and school resource officers.

Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R-Fort Wayne) says lawmakers are prepared to deliver that money and help fund an audit by the Department of Education of all school safety plans.

“DOE feels there might be a cost to that, a fiscal for them, so we need to talk about how to do that,” Long says.

READ MORE: McCormick Says Improvements Needed In School Safety Policy

House Speaker Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) says the legislature will also move forward with another Holcomb request.

“We’re requiring the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate with local officials on school safety,” Bosma says.

Holcomb says the department’s work will produce recommendations for school safety improvements by August.