What Iowa has done to improve school safety before Perry High School shooting
A shooting at Perry High School on Thursday morning comes after Iowa has invested in school safety in recent years, including on improving building security and reporting threats.
Six people were shot Thursday morning in the Perry shooting, said Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. The suspect, 17-year-old Dylan Butler, also died of what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, he said.
Live Updates Multiple people shot at Perry High School on Thursday; police say they know shooter
What has Iowa done to improve school safety in recent years?
Gov. Kim Reynolds announced in June 2022 that Iowa would spend $100 million of federal funding on school safety measures, including conducting vulnerability assessments on schools, providing active shooter training, hiring staff at the Department of Public Safety and creating new ways for schools to report and monitor threats of violence.
As part of the initiative, schools could receive $50,000 each to improve building security.
What is Safe+Sound?
In March 2023, Iowa launched an app, called Safe+Sound, that students and school staff could use to anonymously report tips about school violence, students in crisis, self-harm and other incidents. The app is monitored by trained dispatchers who vet the information and pass it along to law enforcement or school administrators, as appropriate.
At that time, state officials said they had also ordered 1,253 emergency radios for officials in K12 schools around Iowa, conducted 1,500 school safety assessments and had heard from 513 schools who were interested in a $50,000 grant to improve building security.
Lawmakers passed a law in 2018 requiring Iowa schools to have plans in place for emergency events, including active shooters.
What kind of gun restriction does Iowa have?
Iowa lawmakers have loosened gun restrictions in the state in recent years, including passing a 2021 law allowing people to buy and carry handguns without a permit.
The 2021 law also expanded who can carry weapons on school grounds to include off-duty police officers and reserve officers, in addition to on-duty officers. For anyone else, carrying a gun on school grounds is illegal.
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Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What Iowa has done to improve school safety before Perry shooting
