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Senate bill would form committee to look closely at school security

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Making schools in Indiana even safer: that’s the goal of a bill going through the legislature right now.

Senate Bill 491 would create a study committee to take a look between sessions, at school emergency response systems.

This week, the Bartholomew County Sheriff sent a letter to lawmakers showing his support for the bill, which asks the committee to take a look at minimum standards, or best practices in schools.

It also would take a look at finding funding sources to allow more schools to have some of the elements used in a system we showed you back in September in Shelby County.

Southwestern High School has what’s being called “revolutionary” security.

The school is now directly connected to the sheriff’s office in Shelby County, and teachers can press a key fob they wear to both alert the school and dispatchers of what’s going on at that moment.

Dispatch can see inside the school and can even engage the intruder remotely.

The bill to form a study committee has passed the Senate, and was referred to a House committee.