Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, on Tuesday announced that her state would pledge a $100 million investment toward protecting its schools.
Reynolds’ office released a statement explaining how the initiative would provide appraisals free of charge for all 1,500 state schools to assess their vulnerability and would establish a School Safety Improvement Fund providing up to $50,000 per school to implement recommended safety measures.
“The Governor’s School Safety Bureau,” Iowa Department of Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens said, “will provide Iowa with an intentional focus on providing assistance and tools to identify, report, and assess school-based threats, while still embracing local control.
”It will facilitate training so that teachers, administrators, and first responders are equipped and empowered to keep our kids safe. The Bureau will work shoulder to shoulder with all involved for the common good of providing a safe place for our children to learn and grow.”
Following the $75 million reserved for the School Safety Improvement Fund, $6 million will go toward “digital critical incident mapping technology and specialized training,” and $4.5 will go toward radios.
“Mass shootings and other violent acts committed against innocent people are difficult to understand,” Reynolds said. “But work must be done to answer the question why they happen and what can be done to prevent this type of behavior.”
Via Newsmax