What Does Walker's $100M School Safety Plan Mean For Waukesha?

WAUKESHA, WI — Gov. Scott Walker signed his $100 million School Safety Plan into law Monday morning, which creates a grant program for school districts to enhance school safety resources. Every Wisconsin school is eligible for the grant program.

"Our $100 million School Safety Plan will help ensure that every student, parent, and teacher feels safe at school," Walker said. "This bill provides important grant funding that will allow districts to invest in safety measures that will help protect against all threats. This will help protect our students and their future."

You might be wondering what impact this might have for the Waukesha School District. Waukesha Patch.com reached out to the district to help us shed more light on what might be coming for Waukesha.

The district issued a statement to Patch.com in response to the following questions: 1) Does your district have an idea on how its going to interact with the new office to affect school safety? 2) Does your district have a wish list for improvements that could boost school safety? 3) What does your district do particularly well when it comes to school safety?

"The School District of Waukesha has always placed school safety as a top priority and is currently in a master facilities planning stage to address the needs throughout the district. The district works very collaboratively with the Waukesha Police Department in keeping our schools safe. Although our plans are not finalized, we do plan on submitting a request through the $100 million grant project as authorized by this new safety legislation. The Governor's proposal to start an office of school safety is in a developmental phase and although it is early, it could be a very valuable liaison to our legislators and Governor in terms of advocating for adequate safety and security resources."

Provisions of Gov. Walker's School Safety Plan:

• Creates an Office of School Safety within the Wisconsin Department of Justice to work with law enforcement and schools to establish best practices for school safety and provide training opportunities and other relevant resources to schools.
• Provides $100 million to fund a new grant program for security upgrades to school buildings and other eligible costs.
• Mandates reporting for any threats of school violence.
• Allows grant funding to implement Trauma-Informed Care and Adverse Childhood Experiences in Schools.
• Strengthens school safety plan requirements by requiring all schools to consult with local law enforcement and conduct on-site assessments of all pupil occupied areas.

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