Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - December 9, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke announces first supplemental budget request for 2000 session

SEATTLE — Gov. Gary Locke today made his first 2000 legislative session supplemental budget announcement, a $5.2 million request to provide funding for school security grants. He also used the opportunity to discuss the need for communities to adopt and implement clear policies against bullying and harassment at schools.

"I want to do everything possible to assure parents that when they send their child off to school every morning, they are sending them to a learning environment free from the threat of violence," Locke said. "One part of that is investing in school security, and another part is making sure we stop harassment and bullying before they escalate into violence."

Locke said that although many excellent school safety proposals came forward last year, the legislature did not provide dollars for them because of insufficient funding. Locke's $5.2 million proposal would provide full funding for school districts with a demonstrated need to hire school security personnel, a valuable part of a school's comprehensive safety plan.

The governor also called on the legislature to pass a law to require school districts to adopt and implement clear, written policies — which will provide guidance for acceptable conduct in schools — against bullying and malicious harassment. He also called for training on those policies.

"Many of the serious incidents of school violence that have occurred recently had bullying and harassment of students as a catalyst to violence -- this must stop," Locke said. "Creating safe environments conducive to learning means we must send a clear message that bullying and harassment based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or disability will not be tolerated in our public schools."

In 1998, Locke and the Superintendent of Public Instruction organized a Youth Safety Summit to find solutions to violence in Washington schools. The governor incorporated many of the findings from the summit's report into school safety legislation, which he pushed in the 1999 legislative session. As a result, the legislature approved $12 million in new funding for safer schools, bringing the total spent for safer schools to $10 million per year, up from $4 million per year. The governor's proposal would raise the total spent to $15.2 million per year.

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