Governor Signs Bill Creating Idaho Office of School Safety and Security
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The following is a news release from the office of Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter.
MERIDIAN — Governor C.L. “Butch” Otter has signed House Bill 514, the Idaho School Safety and Security Act of 2016, which creates and establishes funding for the Idaho Office of School Safety and Security within the Division of Building Safety. The office will provide security assessments to Idaho schools, along with staff training and will serve as a repository of best practices information for public schools.
“Two of our most important functions in government are providing a system of thorough education for our children and ensuring their security,” said Governor Otter. “This legislation helps ensure all of our school facilities and the students in them are safe.”
The legislation was authored and sponsored in the House by Representative Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, who expressed excitement and satisfaction for the bipartisan support H514 enjoyed in both houses of the Legislature and for its smooth passage. “As a former school board trustee, I see this as one of the significant legislative accomplishments of this session and I want to thank Governor Otter and my colleagues in the Legislature for their support of Idaho’s students and teachers,” she said.
Senate sponsor Senator Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian, echoed Horman’s sentiments, saying, “I have worked on this issue for a number of years. This is gratifying; it is a good piece of legislation.” Legislative co-sponsors were Representatives Patrick McDonald, R-Boise, and Sue Chew, D-Boise, both of whom described the measure as the most limited-government solution available to address the critical issue sf school safety and security.
Administrator C. Kelly Pearce of the Division of Building Safety said, “We’re proud to be selected as the host agency for the Idaho Office of School Safety and Security. This is a perfect fit with our school facilities mission that puts our safety inspectors in every Idaho school at least once every year.”
The Office of School Safety and Security is in large part the result of a state-level school safety task force formed in 2013 following the massive school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut.