Lawmakers Finalize School Safety Bill

Lawmakers unveiled Tuesday a final version of legislation to help schools improve their safety.

The agreed-upon language delivers a $5 million funding request made by Gov. Eric Holcomb for the state’s school safety grants. That money goes toward equipment and school building safety upgrades.

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The legislation also provides $1 million to the Department of Education to audit every Indiana school’s safety plan this year. Bill author Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville) says those plans are currently audited on a random basis.

“I believe it was 60 schools out of 1,800 that have been audited in the past year,” McNamara says.

Both the House and Senate must now pass the bill before session ends Wednesday.