In these days when everyone’s concerned about school safety, Pennsylvania took a step forward earlier this month when Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law a proposal that keeps parents aware of what’s going on when their children are in class.

Act 44 of 2025 requires school districts to notify parents, guardians and school staff within 24 hours whenever a weapon is discovered on school grounds, at school events or on school transportation. It applies to public, nonpublic and private schools across the Commonwealth and becomes law in January.

Originally proposed as Senate Bill 246, the bill was triggered by an incident in April 2023 in the Parkland School District where a fourth-grader brought a knife to Schnecksville Elementary School with the intent to harm.

Parents and guardians weren’t notified until almost a week later via state police reports. Understandably, some families weren’t happy about that.

Sen. Jarrett Coleman, the primary sponsor and a former Parkland School Board member, worked with lawmakers to garner overwhelming support. The measure, with local Sen. David Argall as a cosponsor, passed the Senate 48-2 and 202-1 in the House.

Incidents like the one at Parkland aren’t uncommon. They happen all over the state.

Back in 2022, William Allen High School in Allentown went into lockdown after reports of gunfire at a nearby park. Sometime later, it was revealed that a student entered the school with a loaded semiautomatic handgun. Parents didn’t know the full story for days.

Recently, in Palmerton, a 12-year-old brought a black BB gun onto the grounds of Palmerton Junior High School.

Responding state troopers seized the item after it was found in the student’s backpack. Authorities said the student made no threats, adding that an investigation is continuing.

Angela Friebolin, Palmerton Area superintendent, emailed families to inform then a “look-alike weapon was discovered” at the junior high. She explained that appropriate action was taken and reassured recipients there was no danger to students or staff and that there was no cause for concern.”

It’s that kind of response the new law is designed to make standard.

Under Act 44, notifications must reach families and staff via reliable methods of communication — calls, emails or texts — within 24 hours of a weapon being found. These notices offer essential details about the incident while maintaining student privacy and ongoing investigations. Police or other law enforcement may be involved, but the measure sets a priority for fast, direct communication to those who may be most affected.

In addition, the new law sets stringent safety standards that include appointing school safety and security coordinators, regular safety training for staff, physical security upgrades like surveillance and panic alarms and coordination with local law enforcement.

Previously, notification was required only when reporting weapon incidents to state education officials when a student was expelled. The new law standardizes the response and works toward public safety, privacy and transparency.

Shapiro, at a ceremony signing the proposal, said parents deserve peace of mind that their schools will communicate openly about threats to their children’s safety. He called the new law a commonsense, bipartisan step for school safety that works to restore trust in our schools.

The bipartisan measure sets a hand-in-hand relationship between transparency and safety and guarantees that standard across the state.

And it’s a valuable lesson in what lawmakers can do when they work together.

ED SOCHA | tneditor@tnonline.com

Ed Socha is a retired newspaper editor with more than 40 years’ experience in community journalism.

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.