The Alabama State Board of Education during its regular meeting on February 9, 2023. The state superintendent said Thursday that they were likely to request money for school safety. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
The Alabama State Department of Education could request more money for school safety and security in their upcoming budget request.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey told the board members at a work session Thursday that they were going to request money to fund a bill that passed last session addressing school safety. The board had discussed the issue at a recent retreat.
In documents handed out at the meeting, the requested increase for “School Safety, Security and Climate” is $52.9 million or around $51 million more than last year. But in the meeting, Mackey said the money was more likely to come out of the supplemental budget. The supplemental budget is money outside of the state Education Trust Fund (ETF), the main source of funding for public schools, and is not recurring by default but would be available immediately.