Colorado Governor Signs School Safety Bills

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Gov. Bill Ritter signed two school safety bills into law that include the creation of a Colorado School Safety Resource Center and emergency plans for first responders.

The bills are a response to the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 and a shooting at Platte Canyon High School in 2006, Gov. Ritter says.

Resource centers will be established in five pilot communities that will be selected in the first year of deployment.
The safety centers will be operated by the Department of Public Safety. They will bring together experts from education, law enforcement, mental health and other disciplines to collaborate on trends and standardize best practices for schools. The centers would serve as a clearinghouse for information and allow schools and communities within Colorado to work together as they draft safety plans tailored for their schools.

“Ever since the shootings at Columbine High School, I’ve been committed to improving school safety for our students, their families and our teachers,” Gov. Ritter says. “That commitment only deepened after the shooting at Platte Canyon High School. We owe our children the basic right of a safe school.”

The second bill initiates a pilot program for drafting an emergency response plan for first-responders.

It requires the resource center to draft an emergency response plan for first-responders in case of a hostage situation in the state’s schools. The plans would provide first responders with access to electronic maps and other schematic information about school facilities.
If the pilot is successful, the emergency plan would be expanded to all 178 public school districts throughout the state.