The Pennsylvania Senate passed an amendment, by a vote of 28-22, allowing school districts' boards of directors to create policies permitting school personnel to access firearms in school buildings or on school grounds.

SB 383 would empower school boards to establish such policies and would require them to enact a safety plan with a law enforcement agency that provides services to the school. That school plan would not be a public record under the Right-to-Know Law.

The school plan would include identification of the school personnel permitted to access the firearms, "coordination" between law enforcement and the school and "procedures for the law enforcement agency to review the discharge of firearms in the buildings or on the grounds of the school."

The school plan would also require that all parents and guardians of students enrolled in a school be notified when this new policy goes into effect. The nearest hospital to the school would also need to be notified.

All school personnel allowed access to firearms on school grounds would be required to: have a license to carry a concealed firearm; maintain a current and valid certification under any firearms program such as the Lethal Weapons Training Act, Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff Education and Training Act, Retired Law Enforcement Identification Act, or a program that the commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police has approved; and the authorized staffer would be required to complete a psychological evaluation and receive a professional opinion from an psychologist "that the individual is psychologically capable of exercising appropriate judgment and restraint as an individual authorized to have access to firearms in the buildings."

Information regarding specific school staff allowed to access firearms in the building would also not be subject to the Right-to-Know Law or be disclosed during public meetings.

The bill has been shipped off to the state House of Representative's education committee.