School safety and security to increase under new law

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s public schools will be more secure under legislation signed into law Wednesday. Retired educator, Sen. Dewayne Pemberton, R-Muskogee, led the charge this session to ensure all districts meet certain safety standards to better protect students and staff. Senate Bill 100 was one of the top recommendations of the bipartisan School Safety Working Group, which Pemberton chaired.

“After visiting with school administrators and visiting numerous school sites, it became alarmingly apparent that we needed to create a uniform system of safety standards and protocols to ensure all our students and staff are fully protected during an emergency. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a rural or urban, poor or affluent district, all schools should be safe havens where learning is the focus and students can thrive,” Pemberton said. “I’m grateful for Representative Lowe’s help in getting this across the finish line and for the overwhelming support of our legislative colleagues and Governor Stitt.”

The measure requires the state’s more than 2,000 school sites to undergo a risk and vulnerability assessment from the Oklahoma School Security Institute (OSSI) or a nationally qualified assessor by July 1, 2026, and then every five years after. Recommendations will include ways to improve facility security.  The new law goes into effect July 1, 2023.

Rep. Dick Lowe, R-Amber, was the principal House author of SB 100.

"Security is the last thing children and teachers should ever have to worry about while they are involved in the process of learning,” Lowe said. “This bill will help us ensure our schools are as safe as they can be with the proper staff, security features and protocol in place to protect our children and those who work to educate them. I'm grateful to Senator Pemberton for authoring this measure and the governor for signing it into law."

The Legislature allocated $1.4 million to the state Department of Education (SDE) to allow the OSSI to hire ten additional staffers to help conduct all the risk assessments in the allotted time period.

The last week of session, the governor also signed HB 2903 and HB 2904, which creates a three-year school safety pilot program to provide each district with approximately $96,000 to hire a school resource officer or make necessary security upgrades. The other measure provides a one-time appropriation of $150 million to fund the safety program.

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For more information, contact:  Sen. Pemberton: (405) 521-5533 or Dewayne.Pemberton@oksenate.gov