School security among items designated for state surplus

Faced with divvying up millions from a budget windfall thanks in part to federal tax cuts, Gov. Charlie Baker wants to funnel $72 million into school safety and security to answer concerns from local officials in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla.

A $40 million chunk of the massive $538 million supplemental end-of-the-fiscalyear budget introduced by Baker yesterday is slated to hire more counselors, social workers and mental health workers at schools across the state.

The proposal puts $20 million up for grabs to local districts or public colleges as matching grants for security and communications upgrades — covering everything from alarm equipment to cameras and single point of entry systems.

It marks $4 million for school resource officer training, $2.4 million for a tip line, $2 million for a statewide Say Something campaign and $1 million for school safety training for teachers, health officials and first responders.

Baker said the investments come after months of talking with local school officials who expressed concerns after a former student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland shot and killed 17 people.

Baker said he “felt it was important to do some things that were consistent with what we were told at municipal and school level,” including the funds for social workers and mental health specialists and the matching grants to “harden” school security.

“This was good way for us to put resources on the table, make them available and give people at the local level the ability to apply for them,” Baker said.

The proposal also includes $70 million for closing the achievement gap and funding scholarships for students attending community colleges. The rest of the budget adds $94 million to union contracts, $50 million to cities and towns for road and bridge maintenance, $35.4 million for snow removal costs from last winter and $30 million for clean water projects.

Baker said the surplus was driven mostly by Trump’s tax cuts, but he didn’t expect it to repeat next year.

“Having been on the wrong end of the fiscal year the last couple of years, I tend to not get too elated about this because I do think some of this is cyclical,” Baker said.