Lawmakers Finalize School Safety Bill

WBAA | By Brandon Smith

Published March 13, 2018 at 1:59 PM EDT

Lawmakers unveiled Tuesday a final version of legislation tohelp 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.

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.

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Brandon Smith

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.

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