The New York State Assembly Minority Conference is suggesting a number of school safety measures be implemented statewide.
Following the tragic school shooting that killed six in Nashville Tennessee this month, Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay was joined by a number of his colleagues to announce the findings and recommendations from a task force on school safety and security. The task force, formed last year, visited and listened to school officials, teachers, parents and law enforcement officials across the state on school safety issues. Barclay said even with a tight state budget, the issue of school violence should take precedence.
“I wouldn’t say the state doesn’t have a tight budget,” Barclay said. “But we certainly have resources that we should prioritize for things like school violence.”
Barclay said even if the recommendations are implemented, there will always be some level of concern.
“You know, we understand that even if we are successful in getting a majority or all of these initiatives passed into law, there are still going to be risks out there for children,” Barclay said.
Barclay said the concerns parents have are justified, and the state has a responsibility to keep schools as safe as possible.
“I think it is a reasonable concern,” Barclay said. “We’ve seen these tragedies happen too often around the country and there is no reason we shouldn’t be vigilant on it.”
Some of the recommendations include increasing law enforcement presence at schools, addressing mental health issues in schools, hardening school infrastructure and innovating state support for school safety measures. Barclay said these issues should be a chance for both political parties to work together.
“I think this isn’t really a partisan issue,” Barclay said. “I think a lot of these issues we can work in a bipartisan way to get something done.”
The Minority Assembly is pushing for the report and its recommendations to be considered during the 2023 legislative session.
