Money Sought To Protect Jewish Schools
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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) - A bipartisan group of House members is pushing a bill that would provide money to help protect Jewish day schools in Florida, some of which have been targeted in recent months by anti-Semitic threats and vandalism.
Tep. Emily Slosberg, D-Boca Raton, Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Jacksonville, Rep. Richard Stark, D-Weston, and Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, are asking for $1.5 million through the Department of Education to cover security upgrades such as new fences, surveillance and alarm systems and bullet-proof windows.
A regional official with the New York-based Orthodox Union is listed as the requester of the funding, which would go toward "target hardening" improvements for schools in Broward, Duval, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Miami-Dade, Orange, Palm Beach, and Volusia counties.
The funding proposal, filed by Fine, passed the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee this week and now sits in the Appropriations Committee. Slosberg's office on Thursday pointed to some 17 bomb threats to Jewish day schools so far in 2017.
The News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
