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U.S.
Senator Member: Finance, Agriculture, Energy, Ethics and Aging Committees |
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For Immediate
Release Tuesday, May 13, 2008 |
CONTACT: Stephanie Valencia – 202-494- 8790 |
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| Sen. Salazar Applauds Governor Ritter Signing Safe Schools Legislation WASHINGTON, DC - Each day, roughly 86 percent of public schools around the country reported one or more serious violent incidents or thefts, while thousands of students in grades 9-12 reported that they had been in a fight on school property, carried a weapon to school, or were afraid of attack or harm while at school. In light of these stark statistics, today, United States Senator Ken Salazar applauded the signing of the School Safety Resources Bill by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter as well as the kick-off of the Pikes Peak area Safe Schools Coalition as a part of a continued effort to make our children’s schools safer. “Schools should be a shelter and a safe haven for our children. Unfortunately, Colorado has experienced some of our nation’s worst school shooting tragedies – including those at Columbine High School during my tenure as Colorado’s Attorney General and at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey in 2006. “The prevention of school violence is an issue close to my heart and it is one where a small amount of action and planning can go a long way. This bill, that will now become law, will work to ensure that Colorado schools have the resources they need to prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies and crisis situations. I commend State Senator John Morse and Representative Amy Stephens for their leadership on this bill and Governor Ritter for signing it into law. “I also commend the organizations that will comprise the Pikes Peak area Safe Schools Coalition as your work together is critical to strengthen school safety and promote safe learning environments for all of our children on a daily basis. I will continue to work at the federal level to ensure that we are taking the steps necessary to fund school safety programs to ensure that our children are protected and secure while they are learning.” The School Safety Resource Center created by this bill will assist schools in preventing, preparing for, responding to and recovering from emergencies and crisis situations. It will be housed within the Colorado Department of Public Safety and will be comprised of a 13-member advisory board. It will select at least one, but not more than five school districts to serve as pilot sites during the first year of the center’s operation and will report on its progress by January 2010. As Colorado’s former Attorney
General, Senator Salazar made school safety central to his work and
has continued to work toward that end in the United States Senate. In
February 2007, Senator Salazar introduced the School
Safety Enhancement Act, which would create a three-year, $50 million
grant program within the Department of Justice (DOJ) to fund school
safety grants to school districts. The grants would pay for up to 80
percent of the cost of certain school safety initiatives, such as establishing
school safety tip lines and hotlines such as Safe2Tell, the highly-successful
Colorado school safety hotline.
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