Members of the Senate Republican Conference today advanced a sensible amendment that would have provided school districts with the resources they need to keep New York students safe from harm.

“I don’t know of a single elected official who isn’t in favor of doing everything possible to protect the lives of all of New York’s schoolchildren. That’s why it’s difficult to imagine that our Conference’s common-sense Safe Schools amendment was rejected along partisan lines. Many of the bills being rushed through the Legislature today do nothing to address the serious, underlying causes of school violence or keep our students safe. I urge Senate Democrats to immediately reconsider our proposal,” said Senate Republican Leader John J. Flanagan (2nd Senate District).

The amendment would have protected schoolchildren by giving schools the authority and resources to hire an armed school resource officer if they choose to do so, improve security in and around their buildings, and increase the number of mental health professionals on staff to identify and address potential problems before they occur. Not a single Senate Democrat voted in favor of the Senate Republican Safe Schools amendment, despite the fact that many of them supported the measures last year.