(Radio Iowa/UPDATED) –  Governor Kim Reynolds is directing 100 million dollars in federal pandemic relief to school safety measures.  “Across the country, there’s a sense of
urgency just with the acts of violence that we see taking place every single day,” Reynolds says. The state is buying software to monitor school threats online and will provide an app, website and phone number that lets people anonymously report concerns. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures. Nine people are being hired for a School Safety Bureau being established in the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

“Every family should be able to confidently send their children to school knowing that they will be safe,” Reynold says, “and as the governor of Iowa and a grandmother of school-aged children, I want to assure parents that your childrens’ safety at school is just as important to me.” Reynolds had asked legislators to create an Iowa School Safety Bureau a few years ago and she’s now using federal funds to set it up. Every public school district and private school in Iowa will be offered an emergency radio for every school building, to communicate directly with law enforcement if there’s a security threat. Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens says the goal is to identify concerning behaviors early.

“Unfortunately we live in a time when we can no longer simply assume that our sheltered havens of schools will remain safe,” Bayens says. “Rather, we must be intentional about providing concrete training, tools and assistance so that every school, regardless of its size, can provide the environment needed to feed these hungry minds.” Bayens says his agency will provide active shooter training to anyone who requests it. “The governor’s School Safety Bureau will facilitate training, free of charge, to law enforcement, first responder, schools, houses of worship and civilians,” Bayans says. And 50-thousand dollars will be distributed for each school building in the state, to cover security measures.

None of the 100 million dollars in spending announced today (Tuesday) will be directed to mental health programs. The governor says school safety, though, requires addressing the mental health needs of students and state spending on the mental health system will increase by nearly three-and-a- half million dollars over the next 12 months.  “The debate on guns will continue,” Reynolds said, “but until we consider the lethal weapon in these events is the person who picks up the gun and turns it against another, we risk overlooking other solutions that directly address the cause.” Reynolds cites a recent survey which found 24 percent of Iowa 11th graders had thought about killing themselves in the past year. University of Minnesota research indicates many teenage mass shooters had contemplated suicide and ultimately redirected their self-loathing into hatred of others.