Two Washington state bills call for better security after Wisconsin school shooting

By Simone Carter  / The Olympian
Posted 12/30/24

Earlier this month, a school shooting in Wisconsin made national headlines after a 15-year-old girl allegedly killed two people before turning the gun on herself. The incident refocused the spotlight …

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Two Washington state bills call for better security after Wisconsin school shooting

Posted

Earlier this month, a school shooting in Wisconsin made national headlines after a 15-year-old girl allegedly killed two people before turning the gun on herself. The incident refocused the spotlight onto the subject of school security.

The issue is one that some Washington state lawmakers are working to address in the upcoming legislative session.

State Sen. Nikki Torres, a Pasco Republican, is sponsoring a pair of bills aimed at improving school safety. She wants to make sure that kids — her grandchildren included — are able to attend class without fear.

“They should be there to learn and not to worry about having to learn how to drop, roll, hide for cover, lock the doors — even though it’s good to know that stuff,” Torres told McClatchy. “But priority should be learning, and they should be in a safe environment while they’re learning.”

State lawmakers earlier this month began prefiling legislation, which will be officially introduced the first day of session on Jan. 13.

As of Dec. 16, at least 83 school shootings have occurred nationwide this year, per CNN. Nearly a quarter of educators report feeling unsafe at work, Tri-City Herald previously reported.

Torres’ Senate Bill 5003 would create a grant program in the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction meant to bolster campus security. The competitive program would fund projects like fencing, updated entrance and door security — including panic buttons — and perimeter security infrastructure, for example.

School districts would be eligible for up to $2 million per biennium, with funding prioritized for the most in-need schools.

SB 5004, meanwhile, would enhance schools’ emergency-response systems by incorporating panic or alert buttons, which can be pressed to notify authorities of an emergency. It would also help expedite law-enforcement response through live audio and video feeds.

Districts would tell OSPI about their emergency-response system’s progress by Oct. 1. By next December, OSPI would report to the state Legislature on what kinds of systems are in use.

Torres knows that it can be costly to install panic buttons, but the proposed grant program would help offset that expense. Only about 50% of schools in Educational Service District 105, covering Yakima and Kittitas counties and parts of Klickitat and Grant counties, have panic buttons, the lawmaker said.



She would love to see consistency in terms of security features, particularly when it comes to public schools and rural campuses.

Torres said she visited schools during her campaign and remembers seeing a difference in security among them. Some were brand new and up-to-date. Others, especially in rural areas, didn’t have a fully fenced perimeter and lacked funding for security upgrades.

“Usually the busier schools, say more metropolitan or more densely populated areas, tend to get more of the attention,” Torres said. “But these rural-area schools, they may also not be able to pass bonds, for example, and/or levies. So that’s the other hiccup that they may run into, and this grant program would help alleviate that.”

Other legislation prefiled this month is geared toward school safety.

House Bill 1011, sponsored by Puyallup Republican state Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen, would similarly launch a school-safety capital grant program. HB 1085, spearheaded by state Rep. Suzanne Schmidt, a Spokane Valley Republican, aims to boost safety via harsher penalties for violence or threats at schools and extracurricular activities like sports.

Washington, like many other states, is not immune to school shootings. Seven people were killed or injured in a Washington school shooting — across five incidents — from 2018 to 2023, according to U.S. News & World Report.

In 2015, a 16-year-old who shot two bullets in the air at North Thurston High School was tackled by a teacher; no one was injured. The year prior, a student at Marysville Pilchuck High School opened fire on his classmates, killing four and wounding another.

And firearms are the top cause of death for Washington kids and teens, per the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.

The Legislature will soon be tasked with passing a balanced budget, and for Torres’ school-safety grant program to work, lawmakers would need to find the funds.

But Torres hopes to see her complementary bills get signed into law. As Washington’s population grows, she wants to ensure that students are protected.

“It’s always better to be prepared than to be reactive in emergency situations,” Torres said. “So this is one of the big reasons why I’m really pushing for these two bills to go through.”