Marshall introduces bill opening use of COVID relief funds for school security

A bill introduced Thursday aims to open the use of COVID relief money to bolster school security.

Called the “Safe Schools Act” and introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA), the legislation if passed would allow Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief or ESSER funds approved by Congress to provide a reprieve amid pandemic impacts be directed toward new safety measures at public schools across the country.

The move comes in the wake of a shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 21 were killed and 18 injured inside Robb Elementary School in May.

Marshall held a virtual press conference Thursday on the matter, expressing sympathy for the victims in Uvalde and remarking on the abundance of relief funding remaining in coffers nation-wide that could be earmarked for security improvements. Possibilities ranged from the installation of panic buttons and better video surveillance systems to hiring armed police to be stationed at schools currently without school resource officers.

“We want to give more flexibility to the school system so they can harden their schools and make them more safe and secure,” says Marshall. “I’m not a micromanager, but I think each room could be made more secure as well.”

By the numbers, Marshall cited government figures indicating that nationally over $150 billion of awarded ESSER funds have yet to be spent – though not out of line with spending deadlines for the relief packages. The first allotment of ESSER money has a September 30, 2022 spending deadline with the second and third allotments having deadlines in 2023 and 2024.

In Kansas, $261.3 million of an allocated $1.28 billion has been spent to-date.

“I certainly believe in standing up for the second amendment, I think that it’s every bit as important as protecting our freedoms of speech and our freedoms of religion, but I think one thing we can all agree upon is let’s go to the next steps to make our schools more secure,” Marshall says.

Marshall says he thinks the bill has a good possibility of making it into law, though felt differently about the “Protecting Our Kids Act” passed by the U.S. House Wednesday. The series of bills would raise the legal age to buy certain firearms to 21 among other provisions. Marshall called it ‘dead on arrival.’

“That bill […] has no chance of getting 60 votes over here in the Senate, I don’t think it would be even seriously considered,” he says. “I think it’s an infringement upon our second amendment.”

Marshall was adamant he would not support any bills he sees as infringing on gun rights in the U.S., saying he thinks approaches such as raising the legal age to purchase firearms as missing the true crux of the problem.

“Eighty percent of the mass murders in the last 50 years in schools were with stolen guns. Eighty percent of the mass murders were with pistols, small weapons, as opposed to rifles,” according to Marshall. “I think there’s bigger issues with mental health – there is an epidemic of mental health problems in this country, there is an epidemic of breakdown in the American families as well.”

Research findings show more than 80 percent of K-12 shootings involve guns stolen from family members, though numbers shift when broadening the scope to look at all mass shootings including non-school related incidents. When including shootings outside of K-12 institutions, figures show 77 percent of mass shooters purchased “at least some of their guns legally.” Overall, handguns were used in over 77 percent of cases.

Additionally, Marshall noted research on suicidal tendencies among mass school shooters as an important area of focus to prevent future tragedy. K-12 students who engage in mass shootings have been found to be suicidal in 92 percent of instances – that rises to 100 percent when looking at the college level.

“I had some discussion with Democrat friends about school nurses that are focused solely on mental health and do mental health checks on kids – I think that the teachers can definitely identify who some of these children are that are struggling.”

Marshall also talked about a need to better assess social media activity as well, saying it’s likely an examination of shooters’ accounts would have identified potential warning signs and indicators the youth is in need of support.

Something Marshall wasn’t particularly keen on, though, was the prospect of arming school teachers – a topic that’s been raised nationally as a response to school shootings. Marshall says ultimately the decision should be left to local school boards, but that he would push for security to be left to trained professionals.

“All I can say is they need to be trained properly,” he says. “I take shooting, owning weapons very, very seriously. I think that there’s safety courses, I think that they need to be very accurate with weapons – all those types of things, so it’s easier said than done.”