In 2013, a task force was formed by former Governor Rick Snyder to review school safety and identify where there is room for improvement. Similar to today, there was increased attention and public awareness on school safety following the Sandy Hook school shooting in late 2012. I was honored to serve as one of the members, appointed by the governor.

Working with the Michigan State Police and the school safety task force, policy changes were identified by subject matter experts within law enforcement and school administration that could help protect students, teachers and education staff. The main area of focus encompassed school safety drills and how to encourage better coordination between schools and law enforcement. While schools were required to do a variety of safety drills annually, we found many school districts were not completing the required number of safety drills. Additionally, we identify through conversations with experts, the types of drills needed to be updated in law to better reflect the types of threats facing schools.

In response, House Bill 4713 of 2012 was introduced and eventually passed and signed into law by Governor Snyder, becoming PA 12 of 2014. The changes made in coordination with the task force centered around 3 key components:

1. 1. Make sure the type of safety drill required by law helps to prepare and promote greater security for students and staff.
   2. Make sure any safety drill is done in coordination with law enforcement and emergency response personnel. It’s vital that staff in schools are properly trained and have a contact point with law enforcement in case an emergency occurs.
   3. Requires that safety drill completion information be publicly posted on a school district’s website. We believed it was important for public accountability to be in place after many districts had failed to comply with the law.

While task force groups like this are outside the normal legislative process, they provide a great opportunity to engage subject matter experts and interested parties to find policy solutions to some issues facing Michigan. It is important to not overlook these groups as an opportunity to create change on issues for which the traditional path of legislative policy might not be sufficient.

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