Attorney General Hardy Myers and U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today announced $150,000 in federal funding for the establishment of a statewide school safety hotline. The hotline, which was approved by the 2001 Oregon Legislature (HB 3647, sponsored by State Senator Bill Morrisette), is intended to offer students, teachers, parents and administrators an anonymous system to report illegal, suspicious or other questionable activity at school or at a school-sponsored event.
The hotline is the conception of the Attorney General's School/Community Safety Coalition. Initiated after the tragedy at Thurston High School, the Coalition met with students throughout the state to collect their views on making our schools safer. An overwhelming majority of the students supported a mechanism by which they can anonymously report non-emergency concerns.
"The School Safety Hotline offers students another opportunity to play an active role in their own safety," Myers said. "This is one more important step in Oregon's effort to eradicate school violence."
Funding for the hotline was championed by Senator Wyden and secured in the FY2003 omnibus appropriations bill passed last week by both houses of Congress. The bill provides $150,000 for initiation of the program and is expected to cover the costs of the first year of operation.
"The School Safety Hotline offers a proactive mechanism for dealing with school safety issues, instead of hearing after a tragedy that 'everyone' knew it was coming," Wyden said. "An anonymous, 24-hour hotline gives schools another chance to stop violence before it starts."
The Department of Justice is anticipating implementation of the School Safety Hotline to coincide with the beginning of the 2003 – 04 school year.
