State lawmakers are taking action to keep schools safe by ensuring schools can afford school security.
State leaders are hailing the principal of Pauls Valley High School as a hero after he stopped a gunman during a school shooting. Principal Kirk Moore suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
“I cannot say enough good things about what that man did, and we should praise him, and we should be telling his story from the rooftops for a long time,” said Oklahoma House Speaker Rep. Kyle Hilbert.
“I just want to thank the principal for his quick action … I can’t imagine what a challenging environment that was, especially with a former student,” said Senate Minority Leader Sen. Julia Knight.
“The more you hear about what could have happened and didn’t happen, he was absolutely a hero,” said Sen. Pro Tem Lonnie Paxton.
In a joint statement, state representatives in the Pauls Valley area said acts like this are exactly why the Oklahoma legislature is taking a strong stand to protect our schools and our youngest Oklahomans.
The Oklahoma House and Senate voted to continue funding Student Resource Officers for schools. The school security funding began as a pilot program three years ago.
“We started that it was a, it was three years ago, with a one-time funding of 150 million,” said Paxton. “It was $50 million a year for three years.”
Lawmakers made this funding permanent, starting with $50 million this year, and hope future legislatures will continue that funding every year.
“It was very, very beneficial to the smaller schools where the where the money they received was a bigger portion of their budget,” said Paxton.
The school security funding passed both the House and Senate as part of the overall budget bill; it is now just waiting for a signature from the governor.
