Granger planning bill for federal grant program to fund school metal detectors

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) plans soon to introduce federal legislation that would authorize funds to pay for metal detectors to be placed in America’s public schools.

“When we decided to make airports safe from armed terrorists, we installed metal detectors and dramatically increased safety,” Rep. Granger said on Feb. 26. “It’s time we did the same thing for our schools. By helping local schools purchase metal detectors, we can stop the scourge of violence in our schools.”

Specifically, the lawmaker plans legislation to offer federal grant funds for school districts that want to purchase metal detectors, according to Granger’s office. The measure would condition receiving the funds on schools limiting their entrances so that the metal detectors provide optimum protection. To qualify for the grants, schools also would be directed to work with their local law enforcement.

School metal detectors represent “a simple step that will have a profound impact,” Granger said. “This is also a common sense solution that goes beyond the debates over mental health and guns. Let’s focus on stopping criminals with guns from entering our schools. This plan will do just that.”

In an interview earlier this week with The Texas Tribune, the congresswoman said she hopes to introduce the bill next week. Granger added that schools would receive full funding for the metal detector installations once comprehensive security plans had received federal approval. Granger also told the newspaper that the bill would seek to authorize $500 million over 10 years for the federal grant program.

Until the bill is formally introduced, Rep. Granger’s forthcoming proposal seemingly resembles an action plan released on Feb. 23 by Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott in response to the Feb. 14 mass shooting at a Parkland high school in Broward County. Scott’s multimillion-dollar plan includes increased Safe Schools funding for the installation of metal detectors, bulletproof glass and steel doors at schools, and would require approved safety plans prior to funding, among several other provisions.

Related federal grant programs under the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Department of Education that provided funding for metal detectors or other security technology no longer exist. Both the DOJ Secure Our Schools initiative, the sole school safety program that offered direct funding for security technology purchases and implementation in schools, and Department of Education’s Readiness and Emergency Management grants, which authorized monies for security equipment related to emergency planning and response, were eliminated in 2011.