House committee advances four-bill school safety package, including statewide training requirement

The Michigan House Education and Workforce Committee on April 16 moved four bills forward that its members said are part of a broader school safety package, unanimously reporting two bills with recommendation and adopting h-1 substitutes for two others.

Committee members said the package aims to set a statewide baseline for school safety planning and training. Vice Chair Linting described one substitute as requiring the Michigan State Police and the Office of School Safety to coordinate with the Michigan Department of Education and the attorney general’s office “to provide 3 tiers of training for school personnel, for school resource officers, for school crisis team members, and for all the school personnel who have regular contact with students.”

The package includes multiple separate bills the committee has reviewed this session. Committee members and sponsors said the intent is to ensure consistent training and planning…