School districts get an extra $50 per student to improve security under a new bill filed just ahead of the Parkland shooting anniversary.
House Bill 1754 would create a school safety allotment to help districts prepare for shootings or other emergencies. Schools could use the extra cash to install physical barriers or cameras, hire security personnel, train staff and students on emergency preparedness or fund treatment programs "relating to addressing adverse childhood experiences."
The allotment would be wholly funded by the state and is estimated to cost about $516 million over two years, according to the staff of bill sponsor Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood.
Bonnen, a neurosurgeon, has also filed another sweeping school safety bill that would expand the state's laws regarding emergency preparedness plans.