A $35 million proposal in the House education omnibus bill would allow schools to apply for grants to address building safety and cybersecurity needs. The bill highlights cyber insurance, but experts say schools need to focus on prevention.
A proposal in the Minnesota Legislature could help K–12 schools recover from cyberattacks. But experts say it may not do much to prevent the attacks in the first place.
The $2.2 billion House education omnibus bill, which was unveiled Monday, would allocate $35 million in one-time grant funding for school districts and charter schools to address school safety issues, including both building security and cyber security.
The bill comes on the heels of several high-profile school safety incidents. The St. Paul Public Schools community is reeling from a fatal stabbing inside a high school in February, in which a student is accused of killing his classmate, 15-year-old Devin Scott. And the country is grieving yet another mass school shooting, this time at a private Christian school in Nashville. The funds would allow Minnesota schools to pay for building upgrades to enhance school safety.
This year, for the first time, the Legislature’s school safety grants would also allow funding for cybersecurity. It’s an issue that has received increased attention in Minnesota since a February ransomware attack on the Minneapolis Public Schools, which the district has described as an “encryption event.” The attacker later released personal information of current and former staff and students on the dark web. Minneapolis Public Schools has said it is working closely with the FBI, reviewing the data, and contacting affected individuals.
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