HARRISBURG – The Senate passed Sen. Jarrett Coleman’s (R-16) bill today to empower parents and help rebuild the trust between school districts and the families they serve by increasing the reporting requirements about potentially dangerous situations at schools.
“Parents in a district I represent only found out about a knife being brought to school because one of the parents read a police report about it. One of my constituents called for increased transparency following that egregious occurrence,” Coleman said. “There is broad agreement from both Republicans and Democrats that schools need to inform parents or guardians and staff about situations that impact the safety of children.”
Senate Bill 246 would require parental and employee notification when there is a weapon on any school property that violates its weapons policy, as well as when there are cases of harassment and bullying. The bill would apply to public and nonpublic schools.
“There should be a much higher level of transparency around weapons brought to schools, harassment and destruction of school property. Schools must be forthcoming when dangerous incidents take place,” Coleman said.
Under current law, school districts are not required to inform parents or guardians about incidents when a weapon is brought onto school grounds or to related activities.
In the previous legislative session, the bill received strong bipartisan support in the Senate. The bill moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.
CONTACT: Leo Knepper, 717-787-1349