Pa. Senate committee approves proposal requiring schools to notify parents when weapons are found

Yahoo

06-05-2025

The state Capitol in Harrisburg. (Capital-Star file)
A proposal to notify parents when a weapon is brought into school advanced out of a Pennsylvania Senate committee on Tuesday, while debate on the bill centered around definitions and intent.
Senate Bill 246, sponsored by Sens. Jarrett Coleman (R-Lehigh) and Christine Tartaglione (D-Philadelphia), would require schools and school entities to notify parents and guardians within 24 hours about an incident involving the possession of a weapon on school property. It would also require the school to notify teachers, administrators and other employees where the weapons-related incident took place.
Coleman said that under current law, school districts are not required to inform parents or guardians about incidents when a weapon is brought onto school grounds or to related activities. Districts are only required to report incidents relating to expulsions for possession of a weapon on school grounds or a school-sponsored activity to the state Department of Education. As an example, he referenced a parent in his district finding out about a knife that was brought into school only because one of the parents read a police report about it.
'There should be a much higher level of transparency around when weapons are brought to schools,' Coleman said. 'When someone brings a weapon into a school or school-sponsored event, parents, guardians and staff should be notified. Schools must be transparent with parents when dangerous incidents take place at schools.'
The proposal also allows for targeted notifications, meaning that if the weapon is found at a school dance or a bus of a sports team, the alert may be sent to the parents or guardians of those at that event.
Coleman offered an amendment to the bill to clarify that it would also apply to 'nonpublic' or 'private' schools.
Questions from those who voted 'no' centered on the definition of 'weapon.'
Sen. Anthony Williams (D-Philadelphia) said he agreed that parents, staff and students should be notified when a weapon is found, and pledged to work with Coleman to properly define it. He said the current definition of weapon in the proposal is 'pretty broad.'
'I don't want to leave it to the arbitrary nature of a principal or anybody else to put something negatively upon a child in that space,' Williams said.
Williams said there have been children in his district who have been suspended for bringing a sharpened pencil or having scissors in school. He also said that lawmakers should consider that there are students who 'carry weapons to school because of safety reasons' in his community, although he said that would not be the tipping point of supporting the proposal in the Senate, or not.
The Capital-Star has asked Williams' office where students have been suspended for bringing sharpened pencils to school, but didn't receive a response.
Sen. Lindsey Williams (D-Allegheny), minority chair of the Senate Education Committee, said she fears the bill will 'cause parents unnecessary fear and anxiety.'
'I remain concerned that this bill treats a student who brings a gun to school the same as a student who goes to the office to hand over a pocket knife he left in his backpack from hiking this over the weekend,' she said. 'My office attempted to work with the maker last session to make changes that would allow schools to distinguish between the kid who accidentally brought a pocket knife and the student who took a gun out of their parents' unlocked cabinet.'
Coleman responded by saying he's 'not sure it matters if a child accidentally brings a gun or a knife into the school.'
'As a parent, I would like to be notified, and the constituents that I represent would want to know that the weapon was brought there, even if it was accidental,' Coleman said. 'So there is no distinction between the motive, because at the end of the day, if that knife, for example, another student took that knife and stabbed another kid and that kid died, or even if they accidentally brought a gun to school, the gun can still hurt someone. So I just think parents deserve to know.'
A similar effort was introduced in the previous session as Senate Bill 971, which passed the state Senate by a 47-3 vote in June 2024, although did not advance past the state House Education Committee.
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