A bill that would have forced local school districts to spend 15 percent of their state aid dollars towards school safety has now been turned into a data-gathering measure.
The bill now calls on school districts to submit yearly reports to the Department of Public Instruction on how much they spent on security – and what measures they took.
Those amendments were added by the House Education Committee.
The bill's author — Rep. Ben Koppelman (R-West Fargo) — fought to have those amendments removed, and the original bill restored.
"We fund the majority of education," Koppelman said. "We have policies on how they teach math, how they teach English, how they teach health. Yet we have no policy on school security."
Under the original bill, a school district could lower that amount to 5 percent, if the district allowed some staff to carry concealed weapons. Rep. Eric Murphy (R-Grand Forks) objected to that.
"I don't think it's a good idea to have the second grade teacher coming to school, packing a .45 with a seven-and-a-half inch barrel and a hot load," Murphy said.
The amended HB 1337 passed 88 to 3. It will now be considered in the Senate.
