School Safety Focus in House Education Hearing

Pennsylvania’s Attorney general announced this week that there is a rise in school based threats— and the safety closures that result. The increase is because of more false threats being circulated online.

School safety remains a top concern for students and parents. Today, the Pennsylvania House Education Committee met to discuss the issue.

“Our kids deserve to be in a space where they can learn, where they can grow, where they can develop as people,” Rep. Pete Schweyer said, the Democrat Chair of Education. "And they're not going to be able to do that unless we are ensuring their safety.”

Schweyer shared his own recent personal experience of his kids school getting locked down for a false threat.

“Just those images of my daughter hiding behind a desk,” Schweyer said, "It was the most horrific thing that I've ever experienced as a parent.”

Today’s hearing took stock of the school safety progress that has been made in the state, while looking for the next step of improvement.

“There is still an open question about things like coordination of services,” Schweyer said. "I think there is an open question about making sure that that we're not just entrusting external organizations, when the state government can take a more direct role in bringing those parties together.”

A new Pennsylvania law passed this year mandates each school district to have at least one school resource officer.

Administrators across the commonwealth agree with the need for the officers and the importance of school safety, but have criticized the law as another unfunded mandate.

“One of the things that has always bothered me is when safety grants come out, it's usually competitive,” Alanna Huck said, the superintendent of Wellsboro School District. "and I never quite understood how the state decides which students are more important and which ones should be in a safe environment.”

The state included $100 million in competitive grants for school security and mental health in the 2024/25 budget.

Having officers in schools has also raised concerns about student relationships with law enforcement.

To build trust and create healthy environments for students and officers, one director says assessing a school’s culture is critical.

“There's also the behavioral health and climate assessment. And when they come in, they look at everything,” Todd Repsher said, the school safety coordinator for Bethlehem School District.

"They look at your policies, your procedures; They interview students, they interview staff. And then they provide you with recommendations on how to maybe better that,” said Repsher. “School resource officers are still law enforcement and have to uphold the law. But they get to have more of a mentor-ship role as well."