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To Make Schools Safe, Election Day Could Become a School Holiday

After the school shooting in Parkland Florida, lawmakers in Virginia formed a task force to make schools safer. Now, several of their suggestions are now well on their way to becoming law.

 

One proposal is to make Election Day a school holiday. Another is to free up school counselors from extra duties like proctoring exams.

  “So that they can actually spend the vast majority of their time, 80-percent of their time, counseling students rather than on administrative tasks,” explains Delegate Steve Landes, a Republican from Albemarle County, who served on the school safety committee.

Another of the group’s recommendations is to focus on security before a new school building even opens its doors. Delegate Nick Rush, a Republican from Montgomery County, says designs need to be approved by an engineer who has training specifically in crime prevention through design.

“Security starts with the design of the school,” Rush says. “From the outside layout, to the layout of the offices and classrooms.”

The bills have sailed through Virginia’s House of Delegates this week with bipartisan support. They now go to the state Senate.

 

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

 

Mallory Noe-Payne is a Radio IQ reporter based in Richmond.