Washington, D.C. — U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington), the only N.C. member of the Homeland Security Committee, today called for Congress and the administration to adopt a series of measures to improve the safety of the nation’s schools.
Etheridge called for the changes as the Government Accountability Office released a nationwide study of school security requested by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson and Etheridge in 2006. The full report can be found here.
“This report reflects my long-standing concern that federal support and guidance is critical for schools to develop and implement plans to keep our students safe,” said Etheridge. “Congress should move quickly to enact the reforms suggested in this report, and as the only former state schools chief serving in Congress, I will continue to work to provide national leadership on this urgent local priority.”
The report found that most school districts do have emergency plans, but they lack guidance and funding from the federal government. Many plans do not follow federally recommended guidelines. Among the key findings:
· 62 percent of school districts lack equipment, training and experience personnel for emergency management needs.
· 70 percent struggle to balance priorities related to educating students with emergency management needs.
· 50 percent of schools do not update their plans annually and 10 percent have never updated their plans.
· Half of the officials in the 27 school districts GAO visited reported difficulty in ensuring that parents received consistent information from the district during an emergency.
Etheridge requested the study following a survey he conducted of principals and superintendents in the second district that suggested that schools need increased guidance from the federal government. The GAO surveyed educators in all 50 states, and North Carolina was one of six states chosen for site visits.
The report made several recommendations for the federal government to improve school security, including:
· DHS should state that schools are eligible for grants.
· The Department of Education should work with DHS to disseminate information on planning for special needs students.
· The Department of Health and Human Services should work with the Dept. of Education to provide guidance for the continuation of education in the event of extended school closures.
· DHS and the Dept. of Education should identify factors that prevent schools, first responders, and community partners from training together and develop strategies to address those factors.
As the former Superintendent of North Carolina’s schools, Etheridge has made school security his top priority on the Homeland Security Committee. Etheridge is supporting legislation to require DHS to consider the needs of children and schools in all departmental activities. Etheridge has also pushed for the Department of Homeland Security to allow schools to directly apply for department grants. He has also drafted bipartisan school construction legislation with the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee to alleviate overcrowding in schools, which exacerbates the risk of violence.