News

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) welcomed the launch of SchoolSafety.gov for the Kindergarten through Grade 12 community. Rubio has long advocated for the creation of a reliable central authority or clearinghouse where information on evidence-based and successful models for school safety measures are easily accessible. Rubio worked closely with Max Schachter — father of Parkland shooting victim, Alex Schachter — and CEO and founder of Safe Schools for Alex. Mr. Schachter also testified before the Federal Commission on School Safety on the importance of ensuring our children are safe at school.

“I am very proud of today’s announcement of the bipartisan and bicameral effort I led to create a Federal Clearinghouse on School Safety Best Practices,” Rubio said. “We worked closely with the parents and families to help ensure school districts have a clearinghouse where they can find evidence-based and successful models for school safety measures.”

“I view today’s announcement of the Federal Clearinghouse of School Safety Best Practices and SchoolSafety.gov as the most significant federal effort to date to provide schools guidance on best practices in order to protect America’s children,” Max Schachter said. “I want to thank Senator Rubio for working with me to make this happen. Shortly after the tragedy his efforts to galvanize bipartisan support around the idea of creating a central repository to give schools guidance on safety and security were instrumental in creating the clearinghouse announced today.”

“Today we are happy to see a major initiative unveiled and proud to have been part of the team that helped to create the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse and the SchoolSafety.gov website,” President of Stand with Parkland Tony Montalto said. “This coordinated and ongoing effort by the agencies involved will provide a valuable one-stop shop to anyone charged with keeping America’s schools safe for our students and staff members.”

SchoolSafety.gov, created and managed by the Federal School Safety Clearinghouse, provides one-stop access to federal school safety resources, programs, and actionable recommendations to support schools’ efforts to create a safe and supportive learning environment where students can thrive and grow. The Clearinghouse aims to help schools prevent, protect, mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergency situations.

Background:
On September 26, 2019, Rubio’s school safety clearinghouse provision in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) appropriations bill passed out of the full Senate Appropriations Committee. The provision would require DHS “to establish an operational Clearinghouse website” for school safety best practices.

In July 2019, Senator Rubio met with Parkland families in Washington, who were in the nation’s capital for a hearing on school safety. Senator Rubio submitted a statement for the record where he called on the federal government to “ensure that school districts have a reliable central authority or clearinghouse where they can find evidence-based and successful models for school safety measures.”

In October 2018, Senator Rubio led a bipartisan group of lawmakers in urging members of the Federal Commission on School Safety to create a central clearinghouse repository for school safety.

Related:

• November 6, 2019: Rubio, Johnson, Scott Introduce Legislation to Help Schools Identify Safety Measures and Resources for Implementing Them

• September 26, 2019: Rubio Secures Critical Funding for Florida and to Protect U.S. National Security in Appropriations Bill

• October 3, 2018: Rubio Leads Colleagues in Urging Federal Commission to Create Central Authority for School Safety

• April 18, 2018: Rubio, Nelson Host Experts and Leaders for National School Safety Forum