HARRISBURG – In an effort to protect Pennsylvania school students, teachers and staff, Sen. Mike Regan (R-31) today introduced legislation to require schools to employ armed security personnel during school hours.
“Students want to know their schools are safe and parents want to know their children will come home at the end of the school day,” Regan said. “The safety of students, teachers and school staff should be a top priority. Students deserve a safe environment where they can learn and grow, and teachers should not have the sole responsibility for protecting our kids.”
Regan’s Senate Bill 907 would require school districts to employ an armed, trained, and vetted school security person at every school during school hours.
The bill also aims to enhance safety at school extracurricular activities. It would give school boards the discretion to station armed school security personnel on school grounds during extracurricular events outside regular school hours.
Regan’s proposal would require the armed school safety personnel to comply with vigorous training and certification requirements, including lethal weapons training and training on interacting with students.
“We require our children to attend school therefore it is incumbent upon us to do everything we can to secure them while they are there,” Regan said. “Failure to enact this bill would leave our schools, teachers, and students more vulnerable to attack. That is too great a risk that we just cannot take.”
Since 2018, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has appropriated $800 million in grant funds to help districts pay for school safety and security upgrades and, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, only approximately half of Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts have taken advantage of putting armed officers in schools.
“Many school districts haven’t done what is considered by school security experts as the most effective method of deterring acts of violence, and that is putting an armed, trained and vetted officer in every building,” concluded Regan. “The time to fix that is now, before another school falls victim to a heinous act of violence.”
More information about Regan is available by visiting his website at www.SenatorMikeReganPa.com.
MEDIA CONTACT: Bruce McLanahan
717-787-8524