Carpino Named Vice Chair to School Safety Working Group

HARTFORD – A bi-partisan School Safety Working Group convened its first meeting to study issues surrounding school safety on Wednesday, April 18. State Representative Christie Carpino (Cromwell/Portland) was named as Vice Chair to the group.

“Tragic events at home and across the country remind us that we need to stay vigilant when it comes to school security,” explained Carpino, who is also a parent of school-aged children. “We passed comprehensive legislation in 2013 that some school districts are failing to implement. It’s important to identify those failures, review national practices and create legislative recommendations to ensure the safety of our students and educators.”

The creation of the group was announced earlier in the year by members of the House Republican caucus. The first meeting was organizational, with Carpino’s legislative colleague State Representative Carol Hall (R-59) being named as the working group Chair.

Rep. Hall commented, “I think it’s important for us to take a look at the state of school safety on an ongoing basis. Many of our local districts have enacted new plans in recent years, the goal of this group is to survey the safety situation across our state and find best practices. There is a lot of information out there and we want to make sure that as legislators we are doing our part to keep our children safe.”
The group is seeking to conduct a comprehensive review of school safety in Connecticut and make recommendations for the next legislative session in 2019. The group will solicit outside participants including, school superintendents, educators, law enforcement/first-responders, mental health professionals, school security consultants, students and parents.

The next meeting will convene in May after the conclusion of the legislative session on the 9th. Members of the working group plan on hosting local events as part of a listening tour.

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