Waterford Today

State Representative Mike Harris has urged Michigan lawmakers to reconvene and address funding and improvements for school safety. According to Harris, House Democrats have hindered crucial funding needs and a bipartisan policy plan aimed at enhancing school safety.

The Michigan House of Representatives met last Wednesday for the first time since June, in what is likely their final session before November. During this session, majority Democrats did not approve a bipartisan school safety plan that has been pending in committee for over a year. Additionally, they did not fully restore the funding for school safety and mental health that was reduced from the budget earlier this summer.

“Oakland County parents desperately want to know that their kids are safe at school, but Democrats continue to show how out of touch they are with the topmost concerns of local residents,” stated Harris, R-Waterford. He emphasized that “for well over a year, the Democrat majority has stonewalled a bipartisan plan to make our schools safer and boost the mental health of Michigan students.” He also highlighted that in June, there was a 92% cut in school safety and mental health funding. The recent session was seen as an opportunity to correct this by fully restoring resources and passing the bipartisan safety plan. However, Harris criticized Democrats for restoring less than half of the reduced funding.

In February 2023, Harris and other legislators introduced a comprehensive school safety and mental health plan following the Oxford shooting. This plan includes strengthening the OK2Say tip reporting system, requiring updates to emergency response plans, implementing standard training for staff, among other measures.

Despite ignoring this policy proposal, Democrats passed a budget cutting $302 million from related programs this summer. This reduction threatens safety upgrades, mental health initiatives, as well as jobs for counselors and resource officers. Harris noted his disappointment with these cuts affecting Oakland County schools specifically. Recently, Democrats allowed voting on restoring $125 million—less than half of what was originally cut—with Harris supporting this partial restoration while advocating for further investment.