**Click Here to Read the Entire School Safety Report**

Assemblyman John Lemondes (R,C-LaFayette) today called for increased safety and security at New York’s schools at a press conference in Albany flanked by his Assembly Minority colleagues. The Assembly Minority Conference also released its final report on school safety following a series of statewide task force meetings with parents, administrators, teachers, mental health experts and law enforcement professionals.

“The stark reality we face is that our schools are becoming targets of violence and we need to make changes immediately to help keep our teachers and children safe,” Lemondes said. “Every school should have the resources available to hire an armed school resource officer if they deem it necessary and to also have trained mental health experts on-site to work with at-risk students. I am hopeful in these waning days of budget negotiations that Gov. Hochul and legislative leaders stand with us to increase school safety and security in this year’s budget.”

The Assembly Minority Task Force on School Safety and Security made recommendations in the following areas:

• Increasing law enforcement presence in schools
• Addressing mental health issues in schools
• Opening communication between stakeholders
• Innovating state support for school safety and security
• Identifying threats and providing support to at-risk students
• Hardening infrastructure at schools