Maryland lawmakers are working against the clock to pass new school safety laws.
The 2018 legislative session ends on Monday and lawmakers are working on a bill that would put an armed officer in every public school. This is all part of an effort to make schools safer in wake of the Parkland and Great Mills High School shootings.
The new bill will be part of a four-bill package being rushed through the General Assembly as the session comes close to an end. Right now there are just over 1,400 public schools in the state, and according to the Maryland Center of School Safety, anywhere from 360 to 400 schools already have a school resource officer.
The new bill calls for 1,000 new officers for the remaining schools; however, some districts can't afford to put officers in their schools. In those cases, the department of state police would step in and then assign a state police officer, which could be costly.
Between the officer's salaries, training, uniform, and equipment, the law could cost more than $200 million in just the first year. The four-bill package is waiting on committee votes before they go to the Senate floor.
If this bill passes, it will go into effect July 1.
