On Uvalde anniversary, Pa. Rep. Conklin’s bill looks to fortify schools
The legislation is ‘rooted in those painful lessons,’ Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, said
By John L. Micek – Capital-Star
HARRISBURG, PA – With the nation pausing to remember the first anniversary of the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas this week, a Democratic lawmaker in the state House pleaded the case for his plan to avert a similar tragedy in Pennsylvania.
The legislation sponsored by Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Centre, would require school districts to provide local law enforcement with updated building blueprints, smoothing the path for first responders “to act swiftly and effectively during active shooter incidents.”
“Last year, a heartbreaking record was set in the United States – 46 school shootings, four more than in 2021. This growing epidemic affected 43,450 children, shattering the innocence of their school experience,” Conklin said in a statement. “Our country stands alone among affluent nations in its exposure to such high levels of gun violence, a reality we can and must change.”
Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. It was the deadliest shooting ever at a Texas public school, the Texas Tribune reported.
Local law enforcement have faced withering criticism for waiting more than an hour to respond to the shooting, with the Washington Post reporting Wednesday that the delay was partly driven by senior officers who still are on the job a year later.
Conklin said Wednesday that his bill is “rooted in those painful lessons,” from the Uvalde tragedy.
“By providing first responders with access to up-to-date, detailed building layouts, we would empower them to better navigate the chaos of these crises and speed lifesaving intervention,” the Democratic lawmaker said.
Conklin said his bill was modeled on a similar effort in New Jersey, where policymakers allocated $6.5 million in federal money to create digital maps of all the state’s public and private schools for law enforcement.
Garden State officials started creating digital blueprints of schools in 2019, completing work on about 1,500 of New Jersey’s public and private schools, NJ.Com reported. The money approved last year will help the state finish the work on the remaining 1,500 institutions, the website reported.
Between 1999 and 2018, “over 187,000 students endured the terror of a school shooting. In just five years, that figure has nearly doubled to 338,000,” Conklin said.
“Our legislation aims to make one of many necessary changes to reverse this alarming trend, ensuring our children can learn and grow in an environment where safety is a guarantee, not a privilege,” Conklin said.
