Gov. Cooper proposes $130 million plan to increase school safety in NC

N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Thursday at Cedar Ridge High School in Hillsborough his proposal for $130 million to be utilized by K-12 schools, community colleges and universities to protect students and prevent school violence.

“North Carolina’s classrooms must be safe and supportive places for educators to work and children to learn,” Cooper said in a press release Thursday. “We should address both classroom security and youth mental health needs and my budget takes meaningful steps to prevent school violence and protect teachers and students.”

In the proposal, Cooper’s budget creates a $65 million reserve for building improvements related to safety and security to be used by schools of all levels, according to a fact sheet released by the Governor’s office. These funds can be used for communication system upgrades, improved doors and other projects.

The proposal includes $40 million in flexible funding for schools to hire additional personnel to support student and youth mental health, providing at least 500 additional positions statewide.

“School nurses, counselors, psychologists and social workers play a critical role in identifying and treating youth mental health needs,” the fact sheet said.

Samantha Cole, a spokesperson for Cooper, said in an email that of the $65 million for facility upgrades, $20 million will go to the UNC system. These funds can be used for communication systems, security systems, panic alarms, doorways and other tools to respond to threats. 

“(Cooper) believes that North Carolina’s classrooms — at every level — must be safe and supportive places for educators to work and students to learn,” she said.

Cooper wrote an editorial last month for Medium, titled “Our Kids Deserve Action,” where he wrote about the policy changes he wants put into place after the Feb. 14 shooting in Parkland, Florida.

He wrote about his request to the N.C. Department of Public Safety to direct law enforcement and school administrators to ensure rapid deployment training and school emergency response plans are in order. He said preparing for the worst and praying it never happens is not enough and what is needed is legislation changes.

Cooper proposed allowing people to ask the courts to temporarily take away guns from individuals found to be a danger to themselves or the community.

He said the state needs to strengthen the background check system and require permitting processes for buying an AR-15 — the weapon used in the Parkland shooting — as buying a handgun requires now. This process would include a federal background check and an approval from the county’s sheriff, as every handgun purchase in the state currently requires. 

Additionally, he proposed raising the legal age for buying any weapon to 21 and banning bump stocks, the device used in the Las Vegas shooting in October that left 58 dead, which allow a weapon to fire at nearly the rate of a machine gun without technically converting it to a fully automatic firearm 

Cooper said the steps he outlined are meaningful, common sense changes the state can make to better protect children and communities.

“We can’t wait for Washington to act this time,” he said. “The safety and security of our kids are on the line, and I urge the General Assembly to join me in taking decisive action to do right by them.”

@CBlakeWeaver

state@dailytarheel.com