Delegate Bonnie Cullison

I worked as a public school educator for 32 years, ending in 2010. During those years, most of the time schools felt like a safe place. Things have changed… There have been 190 school shootings since 2018 in which at least one person was killed. As a result, students practice drills in the event there is someone with a gun in their school. This is frightening and truly disheartening. To respond to this issue the MD House passed HB 416 – Public Schools – Active Shooter Safety Drills or Trainings – Requirements (138-0). This bill establishes procedures to help reduce the potential mental health impacts these drills have on our students.

The bill requires:
- Age-appropriate drills and conversations about them;
- Notification before and after drills sent to families;
- Drills designed with trauma-informed care; and
- A requirement that schools send home safe gun-storage information annually and provide additional support for students/staff with a disability or who have experienced trauma.

School Shootings Over Time: Incidents, Injuries, and Deaths Explore the data on school shootings that have resulted in injuries or deaths.