School safety recommendations sent to governor’s desk

By DAVID WILLIAMS

WISH-TV | wishtv.com

School safety and security is top of mind for a lot of parents as children across the state start to go back to school this week.

Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday was preparing to review a report on school security recommendations. His spokesperson said he had the report and would go over it “with a fine-toothed comb” in the days to come.

Earlier, News 8 asked Holcomb what he’d be looking for in the report.

“It’ll be a holistic approach to making sure our schools are safe. It’ll take everything into account from A to Z … mental health issues or any … We want to make sure our schools have the proper counseling, etcetera, to identify and share information,” Holcomb said.

Holcomb asked the state’s school security task force to provide recommendations ahead of the 2019 legislative session.

Holcomb previously said, “I’m eagerly anticipating some good suggestions. You referenced metal detector wands. That’s just one option for schools to have that tool, if they want.”

Those handheld devices should be delivered to schools in the coming days, by mid-August.

This week Holcomb said the report might include recommendations for immediate action, as well as offer a longer-term view.

Holcomb said the report will be a blueprint for ideas that school districts might not have thought about yet.

Holcomb’s spokesperson said the plan is to make the document public so that anyone who wants to can read it.