Two bills have been introduced to the House of Representatives to address school safety. The Safe Schools Act and the Strengthening School Security for Students Act aim to protect students from mass shootings and other violent acts.
The Safe Schools Act would allow unspent COVID-19 relief dollars that were already allocated to schools through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund to be used by schools to harden themselves with physical security measures, such as locks, panic buttons, individual room security systems, video surveillance and hiring and paying the salaries of armed school resource officers.
The Strengthening School Security for Students Act would provide funding for schools to hire and train at least two school resource officers (SRO) per 500 students to improve school security and protect students from potential threats.