There was quite a bit of conversation regarding school safety during the Senate Appropriations Committee budget hearing for the Department of Education on Thursday.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf proposed significant budget cuts to the School Safety and Security Grant Program that raised some eyebrows in Harrisburg.

“There have been far too many tragedies in our schools across the United States the past few years,” state Sen. David Argall, R-Berks/Schuylkill, said.

“We worked in bipartisan fashion to find the funding to protect our school children just two years ago. To propose these dangerous cuts is legislative malpractice, and I would recommend that the staffer who proposed these cuts should be fired.”

Argall’s rebuttal was heard by Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera.

Wolf’s proposed cuts could decrease school safety grants by 75 percent, according to Argall’s office.

The Senate Appropriations Committee is reviewing the governor’s budget proposal by holding hearings and inviting representatives from each department to testify in the Capitol.

“I think what we need to remember is that the budget as it is proposed by the governor is just a starting point,” said state Rep. Jerry Knowles, R-Carbon/Schuylkill. “It’s just a point where we begin to negotiate. We’re currently going through our appropriations committee hearings, and then the negotiations will begin. Issues like this will be address by the Legislature, by the House, Senate and both Democrats and Republicans, in working with the governor’s office in coming up with something that we can hopefully all agree on.”

Thursday’s budget hearing came shortly after it was announced by Sen. John Yudichak and Rep. Doyle Heffley announced that safety grants tallying about $756,000 have been awarded to schools in Carbon County.

“These grants support school security improvements to ensure that students, faculty and staff have a safe learning environment,” Heffley said. “I am greatly disappointed with the governor’s proposal to drastically reduce funding for this important program in the next fiscal year and will be working to restore it.”