Students urge passage of school-safety task force; committee advances bill with amendments

The House Education Committee reported Senate Concurrent Resolution 40, creating a K–12 School Safety Task Force, after testimony from high-school students and education and safety officials.

Tyler Wood, a senior at Rose Pine High School and member of the Legislative Youth Advisory Council (LYAC), told the committee students want a meaningful voice in safety planning. “We believe it to be incredibly important that our voice is heard especially on issues such as this as it directly affects our well-being,” Wood said.

Other LYAC members — Owen Estay of Fontainebleau High School and Lucy Kinkade of Central Catholic High School, who serves as LYAC president — described priorities including architectural hardening, engagement with Louisiana State Police, and ensuring rural and smaller schools have access to safety grants. “This task force is gonna look into how we can make school safety and security a little bit less of an inconvenience,” Estay said, arguing for practical measures that allow learning to continue without excessive disruption.

Sponsor Sen. Edmonds said the students led the effort: “This is their bill and I just happen to be the fortunate one to get to do that.” The resolution’s amendments clarified membership names and added per diem and expenses reimbursement language for task-force participants; the measure also names a LYAC member to the task force and requires reports.

County and state public-safety representatives and school organizations signaled support. Committee members praised student testimony and voted to report SCR 40 as amended.