There is now a House companion to a Senate bill in Florida that would require private schools to get safety alerts just like public schools.
Rep. Mike La Rosa, R-St. Cloud, filed HB 369 Monday. It’s a counterpart to SB 284, filed by Sen. Joe Negron, R-Palm City. Both bills would require emergency response agencies to notify private schools about bombs, fire threats and other major incidents just like they do now with public schools. Only private schools that opt into a school district’s emergency notification policy would be affected. (More here).
School safety is expected to be a leading education issue in the Legislature this year in the wake of the tragedy in Newtown, Conn. The session begins March 5.