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LIAC alumni say SCR 40 will create K‑12 school-safety task force; task force to report recommendations before session
Summary
Former LIAC officers told the current council that SCR 40 creates a K‑12 school‑safety task force to study security, environmental design and training, that one LIAC member will sit on the task force, and that the body will report recommendations before the next session.
Former Legislative Youth Advisory Council officers told the current LIAC members that Senate Concurrent Resolution 40 establishes a statewide K‑12 school-safety task force to study security, review building and design strategies and make recommendations to the legislature.
Ex‑officers said SCR 40 was drafted after LIAC meetings with education and public-safety stakeholders and will bring together experts, school officials and student representatives. Owen Estee, Lucy Kinkade and Walker Prejean described the task force’s work and invited current council members to participate and to develop legislative proposals that could follow the task force’s report.
“We met with Senator Edmonds, we met with the Department of Education, we met with a lot of people to make this what we want it to be,” Owen Estee said. He described the resolution’s charge: “It creates a K‑12 school safety task force to study and make recommendations relative to school safety and security,” and noted the task force will study crime prevention through environmental design, or CPTED.
Members described the task force’s schedule and membership: a LIAC member will serve on the body, the first meeting was announced for Aug. 14 at 9 a.m. in the Henkel Room on the Senate side, and the group was expected to report before the next legislative session so lawmakers could consider recommended changes.
Why it matters: SCR 40 formalizes a cross‑stakeholder study of school safety that the alumni said could yield policy proposals for the non‑fiscal legislative session. Alumni framed the task force as a vehicle to convert meetings and recommendations into bills and urged youth members to develop concrete proposals now.
School resource officers and funding: During follow-up questions student members and alumni discussed school resource officers. Alumni and other speakers said most schools with SROs rely on local law-enforcement funding or part‑time arrangements; they said full‑time SROs require training and a dedicated salary that many rural or cash‑strapped districts find hard to fund.
The alumni encouraged LIAC members to gather local data, contact school boards and discuss funding and training constraints with district superintendents as part of drafting feasible bills.
Ending: Alumni urged LIAC members to use the task force, draft bill ideas and build relationships with legislators and education officials before the next session so proposals have sponsors and momentum.
