School safety remains top of mind for some Washington lawmakers as they began prefiling bills last week for the upcoming 2025 legislative session.
With a looming $10+ billion budget shortfall, cries from public school districts to increase investments in K-12 public education — as well as a myriad of other pressing and evergreen issues — lawmakers in Olympia will no doubt have a busy laundry list when they reconvene Jan. 13 for a 105-day session.
Prefiling a bill does not give it preferential treatment and does not ensure that it will receive a hearing in committee. Washington lawmakers introduced nearly 1,200 bills earlier this year during the 2024 session, and only a fraction of them became law.
Most educators feel safe in their workplaces, but less so since before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to a 2023 Education Week survey. Nearly one in four educators say they feel unsafe at work.
State Sen. Nikki Torres, R-Pasco, prefiled two bills last week that, if passed, would establish a school security infrastructure grant program and update laws on emergency response systems to include panic buttons.
Senate Bill 5003 would establish the “School Security and Preparedness Infrastructure” grant program within the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
OSPI would create a competitive grant program to “increase the physical security of K-12 public school facilities and campuses,” according to her bill language. School districts would be limited to $2 million in awards every biennium.
Eligible projects include entrance upgrades and vestibules, fencing, perimeter security infrastructure, repairs or improvements to existing security systems and projects designed to speed up the response of police officers.
Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen, R-Puyallup, prefiled a similar bill in the House that would also create a school safety capital grant program.
Senate Bill 5004, another piece of legislation sponsored by Torres, would update existing laws on school emergency response systems to include panic or alert buttons.
That includes “buttons that are tied to school administration, school district staff and emergency response providers,” which are used to immediately request police and emergency response. However, that proposed change is not a mandate.
The bill would also require OSPI to report to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2025, on the types of emergency response systems used by school districts.
This past legislative session, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law bills requiring all K-12 campuses to have “bleeding control kits,” including tourniquets and compression bandages, available, as well as expanding a state law requiring opioid overdose reversal medication in all public schools.
