A State panel created in the wake of the Newtown tragedy is one step closer to submitting new school safety standards to Connecticut’s General Assembly.
The School Safety Infrastructure Council heard from education experts from across the State, Monday night. It was one of three public sessions being held before the council deliberates on standards.
The experts spoke about simple ways to improve school safety such as putting locks on every classroom door and hiring school resource officers.
“The person would be trained on how to approach people in a proper fashion and have training in de-escalating an individual if necessary,” President of Connecticut’s Federation of School Administrators Gary Maynard said.
The topic of cost also came up. A few of the experts agreed that new standards should not be mandated if they cannot be paid for by local districts.
“If you have to mandate, think about going forward. New building construction or renovations, that’s where, if you feel you have to mandate, I would put my attention,” Connecticut Association of Boards of Education member Robert Rader said.
The council has until the end of December to submit its standards to the General Assembly.