Upcoming Interims Include General Session On School Safety Plans

Next week’s legislative interim meetings will include a general session on school safety plans.

The Republican House of Delegates caucus organized the general session.

Former ATF agent Rob Cunningham, now the Deputy Secretary with the Department of Homeland Security, the Putnam County school board president and State School Board President Clayton Burch will share best practices in school safety.

“It’s an informative session for us to be knowledgeable and educated when people ask us those questions,” House majority leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor County, said. “And help us figure out what questions we should be posing to our school boards, do we have this, do we do that, what do we do?”

She said there are a lot of questions right now on safe school building construction. Summers recently thought twice when hearing an architect’s plan for a new Taylor County Elementary school.

“He kept saying we need more glass and we need more natural light,” Summers said. “And in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, is that what we really need? It’s making me have more questions than answers at this time.”

Summers hopes School Building Authority members can also attend to talk about the current projects and upgrades they approved that deal with school safety.

The meeting on West Virginia school safety is Tuesday, June 14 at 1 p.m.

Legislative interim committee meetings at the State Capitol run from this Sunday through Tuesday.