Madison, WI – Today, Representative David Steffen (R-Howard) voted in favor of two bills aimed at increasing school safety by strengthening transparency and accountability measures in Wisconsin schools.
Assembly Bill 53 will provide parents will critical safety information related to their child’s school by requiring high schools to collect and report various crime statistics. Under this bill, crimes like homicide, sexual assault, burglary and battery would all need to be reported to the Department of Public Instruction and be incorporated in a school’s report card.
“Parents have a right to be informed of what’s happening at their child’s school. Unfortunately, in some instances, parents may not find out about an incident until well after the fact. Additionally, this key information will be critical to helping school communities develop a plan of action for preventing future incidents,” said Rep. Steffen.
Assembly Bill 69 would create a clear standard to determine when schools would be required to hire a school resource officer (SRO). Specifically, if a school has 100 incidents and 25 arrests a SRO would need to be employed at the school.
“I am pleased to have supported both of these measures which will help provide clear information and enhance safety measures in our schools. School safety is at top-of-mind and these bills rightly reflect that priority,” said Rep. Steffen.
For more information please contact Representative Steffen at (608) 237-9104 or by email at Rep.Steffen@legis.wisconsin.gov.
