Lawmakers are taking another crack at putting a new safety tip line in place for Wyoming schools.
The Joint Education Interim Committee moved Thursday to draft legislation to create the Safe2Tell tip line, which would be modeled after a system developed in Colorado in the wake of Columbine.
Both the Wyoming House and Senate passed a similar bill in this year’s session, but it failed to become law when the two chambers couldn’t agree on amendments.
Pinedale Representative Albert Sommers says there other safety measures schools are interested in, like increasing the number of School Resource Officers, but the tip line could be more bang for the state’s buck.
“It’s more than a tip line,” says Sommers. It’s really a systemic program for prevention. Everybody knows prevention is the cheapest means to gain an end."
In the legislative session, opponents were concerned with the cost of the program. On Thursday, Attorney General Peter Michael came to the interim committee with a cheaper proposal.
Michael says the program would cost about $420,000 in its first year.
