Wright proposal to increase school safety funding rejected by House majority

INDIANAPOLIS – Efforts by State Rep. Melanie Wright (D-Yorktown) to drastically increase state support for local efforts to improve school security were rejected today in the Indiana House.

Wright’s proposal would:

•       Remove the matching requirement for schools to access Secured School Fund grant money.
•       Dedicate up to $100 million per fiscal year to improve school security infrastructure and increase the number of ILEA-trained School Resource Officers in Indiana’s schools.

“My colleagues in the House majority have continued to put an emphasis on the importance of school safety and their concern with the limited funds in the Secured School Fund, yet their budget would only increases the amount of money in the fund by $5 million,” Wright said. “The need for funding is far greater than that and we owe it to our children to put more money behind efforts to keep them safe at school.”

The funding for Wright’s amendment would come from state budget reversions. More than $450 million in state funds were reverted in the most recent budget.

“The current funding levels in the budget and at the local level, and the strings attached to the Secured School Fund, prevent too many of our schools from being able to afford the necessary school safety improvements that could save lives in the event of an emergency,” Wright said.

“While today’s actions were disappointing, I will still work the rest of this session to improve the quality of school safety programs in Indiana,” she concluded.