CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A bill that would establish a School Safety Unit within the state Division of Protective Services is before the full House of Delegates.
HB 3369 passed the House Judiciary Committee last week and will up for passage in the House before crossover day on Wednesday.
State Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Rob Cunningham told committee members this new unit goes hand-in-hand with Gov. Jim Justice’s School Safety Initiative implemented this year.
Cunningham said the program has worked so far.
“We’ve prevented a child from committing suicide. We have been involved in multiple bomb threats and multiple reported incidents of weapons in schools,” he said.
Multiple hoax threats about school shootings or other violence were reported in Dec. 2022 in at least a dozen counties in West Virginia.
Cunnningham said the director of the program Ron Arthur made sure to let other officers know about potential threats in a timely manner.
“It’s just the communication and the relationships that are helping keep not only our first responders safe, but definitely our schools safer,” he said.
The bill would take employees who already work for the state to ensure school safety.
“They’re the liaison between the school systems and the law enforcement, the school resources officers, the prevention resources officers. They’re just another tool to help ensure that our schools are safe,” Cunningman said.
The goal of the governor’s initiative is to establish a greater law enforcement presence in schools. It comes in response to a number of mass shootings including the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Tx.