HENDERSON, Ky. (WEHT) — Max Wise, a Republican State Senator who has served in the state legislature since 2015, said he hopes the Bluegrass State is on the forefront of school safety.
“We are going to make sure that we become a model that other states are going to look at and say, ‘Kentucky is doing this right,” he said.
In Owensboro alone, four arrests have been made in September for threats against schools.
In Kentucky, a threat made against a school is a felony that can carry a punishment up to five to 10 years in prison.
“We are not going to take this and allow this to disrupt every particular person that’s trying to go to school on a regular basis,” Wise said.
Wise stresses the importance of communication between the school, parents, and students.
With threats increasing throughout the country, some want parents to be held accountable for their child’s actions.
“People say, ‘Well you need to go after the parents with consequences of their action,” he said. “I’m not sure if we will go that far as state legislation to make sure parents are prosecuted for something like this because that would be very difficult if it was an 80-year-old grandmother that is the true guardian. Do we go after her?”