Building of ‘safe rooms’ backed

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas House approved a bill Monday that would allow school districts to use state funding to aid in the construction of “safe rooms” and early childhood education facilities.

House Bill 1337, by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, received a vote of 53-15 with 15 lawmakers voting present. The bill moves to the Senate for further action.

Under current law, school districts may not use funds allocated through the Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities Fund Act to build “safe rooms” or prekindergarten facilities. A “safe room,” as defined by the bill, is a building, space or other area designed to protect occupants from “a natural or manmade intrusion.”

The Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities Fund Act establishes a partnership program under which the state is required to provide cash payments to school districts for eligible new construction projects based on a district’s academic facilities wealth index.

Rather than relying on this state aid to build “safe rooms” and prekindergarten facilities, districts have to turn to grants, private donations or their budgets, said Mayberry.

Since schools are required to build “safe rooms,” Mayberry said it is a “no-brainer” to allow districts to use money from the state’s partnership funding program for their construction.

Mayberry expects early childhood education centers are likely to become increasingly important for parents and school districts after a near-total ban on abortions went into effect in Arkansas last June. The implementation of the 2019 state law banning all abortions except to save the life of the mother in a medical emergency came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that decriminalized abortion across the country.

“Because of that, we are just now seeing some babies that are going to be born that would not have been born had the events in June not happened,” she said.

Mayberry noted the state already has a “child care crisis” and pointed to statistics that show the state saw roughly 3,000 abortions per year before the ban.

There were 3,133 abortions in Arkansas in 2021. Of these, 2,746 were induced in women who reside in Arkansas, according to the state Department of Health.

“A lot of single moms out there are going to find out that they are pregnant. Before, they knew in order to stay in school, in order to keep their job… they just aborted the baby. They don’t have the option anymore. What are those single moms going to do,” said Mayberry. “That’s why this bill is important.”

Mayberry said her bill would permit but not require school districts to use state funding for early childhood education centers.

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Knoxville, noted the bill would expand a school district’s options for spending state funds without providing additional money.