Earlier this year, law enforcement was brought in to Meadowlawn Elementary School in Monticello, Indiana to help facilitate an active shooter drill. What happened next was the subject of national debate.
Teachers were split into smaller groups. They were then led into classrooms and told to kneel, facing the wall. Then, deputies without warning proceeded to fire plastic pellets into the backs of over 20 teachers.
This incident caused nationwide outrage. Indiana lawmakers are seeking to avoid an incident like this happening again. House Bill 1004 is a general school safety funding bill, but lawmakers have added an amendment to the bill that would prohibit the use of projectiles during active shooter drills or school safety training.
The Indiana State Teachers Association (ISTA) advocated for this particular change. The author of the bill, Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville), has said previously that she was in favor of adding such an amendment to the bill.
“I would never assume that somebody would actually go through an active shooter training simulation using pellets against teachers,” Said McNamara. “Obviously it did happen but I couldn’t imagine that somebody would do that.”
Read the full bill here.