PHILIPSBURG – Senators Wayne Langerholc, Jr. (R-35) and Jake Corman (R-34) hosted a public roundtable discussion on school safety today with the Senate Majority Policy Committee.
“Every school faces its own unique set of challenges and concerns regarding school safety, so it is critical to hold local discussions with all stakeholders and examine ways we can work together to keep students safe,” said Langerholc, who serves on the newly created School Safety and Security Committee. “We have made tremendous progress on school safety in recent months, and I am hopeful that we can use the information from today’s hearing to pursue additional school safety reforms in the months ahead.”
“This discussion is part of the Senate’s commitment to engage students, parents, school personnel, security professionals and community members in order to develop a holistic approach to creating safer schools,” said Corman, who is the Senate’s Majority Leader. “We have taken the first steps to increase access to tools the schools need to increase safety. Roundtables such as this allow us to work together to develop additional legislation that will ensure a safe learning environment for our children.”
The committee, chaired by Senator David G. Argall (R-29) has been traveling across the state, conducting similar events with stakeholders. You can view the Philipsburg roundtable here.
“This marked our seventh event on this topic that we’ve held in regions all across Pennsylvania,” Argall said. “School safety is not a one-size-fits-all solution. I commend Senators Langerholc and Corman for inviting the committee to receive feedback and hear local concerns and suggestions as to how we can best protect students, teachers and administrators.”
During the roundtable, the senators reviewed recently enacted school safety legislation, as well as discussed pending measures awaiting action in the state House and state Senate. Most of the discussion focused on new ideas from the regional stakeholders, consisting of administrators, law enforcement personnel and other individuals involved on the issue.
More information can be found on the committee’s website at policy.pasenategop.com, Senator Langerholc’s website at SenatorLangerholc.com and Senator Corman’s website at SenatorCorman.com.
You can listen to Chairman Argall discuss the importance of this roundtable discussion here.
Contacts:
Gwenn Dando (Langerholc)
717-787-5400
Jenn Kocher (Corman)
717.787.1377
Jon Hopcraft (Argall)
717.787.2637