Schools may get a blueprint next year for tightening security.
The Senate votes next week on ordering Indiana's Department of Homeland Security to compile a handbook of security precautions schools should take.
Sen. Phil Boots (R-Crawfordsville) says schools need more guidance on potential vulnerabilities.
But Boots notes the Department of Education already works with schools on security issues.
“There’s a task force that already exists in a state school that is already training school administrators and individuals within the schools on how to protect their students and how to protect themselves – what’s the best way to do that,” Boots says. “This just goes to the next level of securing the building.”
A Senate committee unanimously endorsed the bill after Boots dropped a proposal to let schools charge a $20 per student safety fee or a $10 property tax surcharge to pay for security improvements.
He says legislators want to consider spending issues all at once when they write a new state budget next year.
“We like to consider everything when it’s a budget time and this is not a budget year, so there was just not enough time or consideration to look into how much money we could spend,” Boots says.