Sen. Mike Regan, R-Dillsburg, is pictured in a school security office during a tour of Dover High School.

Sen. Mike Regan has been looking for legislative solutions to keep school safer for more than a decade.

Regan, R-Dillsburg, first introduced school safety legislation after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. After the March 27 shooting of three students and three staff members at a Christian school in Nashville, Regan is working on a new proposal, this time to require a security presence in all publicly funded schools. Regan is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation he is drafting.

The legislation is likely to include several options for schools, including a school police officer, school resource officer or a school security guard as defined in the state Education Code. Regan said in his memorandum that school safety personnel will undergo background investigations, be required to maintain certification, and be annually certified inposition-specific training.

In an op-ed posted on his website, Regan said the state’s School Safety and Security Grant Program has made money available to schools to hire armed officers and to harden points of entry. Regan wants to see that money remain in the state’s 2023-24 budget. Funding began at $60 million and increased in the 2022-23 budget to $95 million for physical school safety and $95 million for school-based mental health.

“The idyllic times of our schools being a safe haven for kids where doors could be propped open and visitors could freely come and go are in the past. Like in so many scenarios, the wrongdoing of others now dictates how the rest of us must operate in our daily lives,” Regan said in his op-ed. “Ensuring our students are fully protected while they are at school needs to be a top priority. That is why I am renewing my call for requiring every school to have armed officers on site, who are not only there in case of emergency but can also serve as trusted resources for students and be the eyes and ears on the ground to alert proper authorities to changes in behavior.”

Several states are pursuing measures to improve school safety in the wake of the Nashville shooting. According to the Associated Press, legislation in Oregon would require schools to send electronic notifications to parents as soon as possible after a safety threat occurs passed the state House unanimously. If passed, the panic alert bill would make Oregon the fourth state — along with Republican-led Florida and Democratic-led New Jersey and New York — to enact such a law. Several other states are considering similar legislation.

The Missouri House on Thursday approved a 2024 budget with $50 million for school safety grants, on top of $20 million already authorized for school safety in the current year. Schools will be able to use the money on technology including door locking devices, intercom systems and video surveillance equipment. And Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and state lawmakers have proposed $140 million to place an armed security guard at every public school, as well as $27 million to enhance public and private school security. Lee is also proposing adding $30 million to expand the state’s homeland security network that will work with both public and private schools.

“My perspective on this issue comes from my law enforcement career, in which part of my responsibilities was to secure federal courthouses,” Regan said in his legislative memorandum. “I have also relied on other credentialed experts in the field of school and building security as I crafted legislative proposals over the years, and they have all said with uniformity that the hiring of trained and vetted armed officers should be every school’s first step when implementing security measures. But still, many have not. The time has come for all to recognize that this is a must in today’s world.”