Lawmaker Wants To Allow School-Safety Funding Referendums

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state lawmaker wants to allow Indiana schools to seek referendums that would boost their funding for school safety initiatives.

Republican state Sen. Travis Holdman of Markle says he'll introduce a bill in the 2019 legislative session that would allow schools to seek school-safety referendums that would work the same as operating referendums. Those ballot initiatives seek to generate funds for daily expenses like academic programming.

The Journal Gazette reports that if the legislation passes the new funding would go toward many purposes, including risk assessments and hiring school resource officers.

Dennis Costerison is executive director of the Indiana Association of School Business Officials. He says a May shooting at a Noblesville middle school that wounded a 13-year-old girl and a teacher "was kind of a wakeup call for everyone."

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