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Sean D. Reyes
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Senators Rubio and Nelson Host National School Safety Forum

FLORIDA SENATORS RUBIO AND NELSON HOST NATIONAL SCHOOL SAFETY FORUM
AG Reyes and Utah Senator Thatcher to Take Part

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  On Wednesday, April 18th, U.S. Senators Rubio (R-FL) and Nelson (D-FL) hosted a forum of experts and leaders, including Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes, to discuss school safety around the nation. The purpose of the forum was to share ideas and understand best practices on school safety and to provide officials with new ideas they can take back to their agency or community to implement.

The forum comes on the heels of the deadly shooting in Parkland, FL at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool. Various government officials, families impacted by the Parkland shooting, as well as experts and leaders gathered to discuss intervention and prevention of school gun violence. One particular focus was the use of technology in school security, which would include the SafeUT App out of Utah.

AG Reyes stated the following during the forum:

“We’re beneficiaries of a systematic environment, an ecosystem if you would, of trust, of safety, ofresources and collaboration that has direct application to the school safety challenge that we’re about today. The evidence is this: over the last 7 months 104 reported planned school attacks or threats in Utah were intercepted or thwarted because of this program and collaboration.”

Senator Daniel Thatcher, Representative Steve Eliason, and Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute Executive Director Ross Van Vranken were also on hand to give comments.

The SafeUT app has been getting national attention for its effectiveness in curbing school violence. Originally developed in partnership between AG Reyes and Senator Thatcher to curb teen suicide, SafeUT has morphed into a place where students can share concerns and provide tips about potential student attacks. 

Ryan Petty, father of Alaina Petty whose life was lost in the attack, played a main role in  advocating for SafeUT to come to Florida. Petty visited Utah at the end of March with his family to be present when the Utah Legislature passed HCR22 designating April as #MSDkindness Month to honor all those who were lost on Feb 14th in Florida.

You can watch the entire forum here: Politico: Sens. Rubio, Nelson Host Gun Violence Prevention Forum
Attorney General Sean Reyes starts right after the 1:00 hour mark. 

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