Kleckley calls for committee to study school safety in La. - KSLA News 12 Shreveport, Louisiana News Weather & Sports

Kleckley calls for committee to study school safety in La.

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Posted By Elona Weston - email
BATON ROUGE, LA (KPLC) -

Louisiana House Speaker Chuck Kleckley, R-Lake Charles, has requested that a panel be formed to examine school safety issues in schools across Louisiana.

The action is in response to the Connecticut school shooting tragedy, Kleckley said in a Friday news release.

"We in Louisiana should take special notice of the tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. While we grieve with the families of Newtown, we as legislators need to ask if there are lessons to learn and apply to our own hometown schools," Kleckley said.

Kleckley said that Louisiana currently has laws in place to ensure schools are prepared to respond to on-campus violence.

"Those laws, for example, require emergency plans, forbid weapons and body armor on school campuses, and allow schools to have police officers on campus daily," he said.

Kleckley said he has spoken with lawmakers across the state who agree that an evaluation is in order.

"It is clear that we should evaluate and question the policies and procedures of our schools to determine if our children are as safe as possible," he said.

Kleckley said he has asked state Rep. John Schroder, chairman of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, to convene a meeting of the committee early next year.

"The purpose will be to look carefully at the lessons we can learn from the Newtown tragedy and review our existing laws and procedures concerning school safety. The committee will discuss if we as a state need to take further action to make sure our children are free to learn, play and grow in peace and safety," Kleckley said.

To view the complete release, click HERE.

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