flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Senate introduces The School Safety Clearinghouse Act

Market Data

Senate introduces The School Safety Clearinghouse Act

Legislation would create a federally funded and housed informational resource on safer school designs.


By AIA | September 25, 2019

Courtesy Pixabay

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) applauds U.S. Senators David Perdue, R-GA, Shelley Capito, R-WV, Doug Jones, D-AL, and Thomas Tillis, R-NC, for introducing The School Safety Clearinghouse Act yesterday. The legislation would provide state and local officials with unbiased information for making their schools safer through design.

“More than 20 years after the attack at Columbine High School, our schools deserve to be safer. As architects, we know how to help,” said AIA EVP/Chief Executive Officer Robert Ivy, FAIA. “Design serves as a critical element in making our airports, stadiums and office buildings safer following September 11. Senators Purdue and Jones should be commended for introducing new legislation that will give education officials the vetted information they are desperately seeking to create safe and secure schools for America’s children and teachers.”

Under the proposed legislation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would manage a federally funded and housed informational resource on school safety. Local and state officials could access it and be provided with the tools and information they need to design safer schools. Recommendations from architects, engineers, first responders, building security experts and mental health advocates would be included in the clearinghouse after being federally validated.

“Every student deserves access to a safe learning environment and a quality education,” said Senator Perdue. “The School Safety Clearinghouse Act would simply create a resource where state and local officials can find best practices for school security and design. Ultimately, it will allow parents, teachers, and administrators to make informed decisions about the best ways to keep their schools and communities safe. I personally want to thank the American Institute of Architects for lending their expertise about safe school design and partnering with us on this bill.”

AIA is committed to working with Democrats and Republicans, as well as DHS, to ensure the full creation of the clearinghouse. Last August, the Institute and its members launched a school safety campaign initiative advocating for the government to address school violence through a design-centered approach and to establish a federal clearinghouse of design resources. As part of its efforts, several of AIA’s architect members—specializing in school design—testified before the Federal Commission on School Safety and DHS to advocate for legislation and design strategies that would support safer schools. Many of those recommendations—including the federal clearinghouse—were supported in the commission’s report released last December.

In addition to the clearinghouse, the AIA is continuing its efforts to make architectural and design services available to schools through federal grants. As part of this, the AIA is encouraging the U.S. Senate to support language in HR 3055, which increases the amount of money in the STOP School Violence grant program by $25 million, for a total of $125 million. The legislation also clarifies that STOP grants can fund requests from school districts for architectural and design services.

Learn more about the AIA's advocacy efforts online.

Related Stories

Self-Storage Facilities | Dec 16, 2022

Self-storage development booms in high multifamily construction areas

A 2022 RentCafe analysis finds that self-storage units swelled in conjunction with metros’ growth in apartment complexes.

Market Data | Dec 13, 2022

Contractors' backlog of work reaches three-year high

U.S. construction firms have, on average, 9.2 months of work in the pipeline, according to ABC's latest Construction Backlog Indicator. 

Contractors | Dec 6, 2022

Slow payments cost the construction industry $208 billion in 2022

The cost of floating payments for wages and invoices represents $208 billion in excess cost to the construction industry, a 53% increase from 2021, according to a survey by Rabbet, a provider of construction finance software.

Mass Timber | Dec 1, 2022

Cross laminated timber market forecast to more than triple by end of decade

Cross laminated timber (CLT) is gaining acceptance as an eco-friendly building material, a trend that will propel its growth through the end of the 2020s. The CLT market is projected to more than triple from $1.11 billion in 2021 to $3.72 billion by 2030, according to a report from Polaris Market Research.

Market Data | Nov 15, 2022

Construction demand will be a double-edged sword in 2023

Skanska’s latest forecast sees shorter lead times and receding inflation, but the industry isn’t out of the woods yet.

Reconstruction & Renovation | Nov 8, 2022

Renovation work outpaces new construction for first time in two decades

Renovations of older buildings in U.S. cities recently hit a record high as reflected in architecture firm billings, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Market Data | Nov 3, 2022

Building material prices have become the calm in America’s economic storm

Linesight’s latest quarterly report predicts stability (mostly) through the first half of 2023

Building Team | Nov 1, 2022

Nonresidential construction spending increases slightly in September, says ABC

National nonresidential construction spending was up by 0.5% in September, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Hotel Facilities | Oct 31, 2022

These three hoteliers make up two-thirds of all new hotel development in the U.S.

With a combined 3,523 projects and 400,490 rooms in the pipeline, Marriott, Hilton, and InterContinental dominate the U.S. hotel construction sector.

Codes and Standards | Oct 26, 2022

‘Landmark study’ offers key recommendations for design-build delivery

The ACEC Research Institute and the University of Colorado Boulder released what the White House called a “landmark study” on the design-build delivery method.

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




AEC Tech

Lack of organizational readiness is biggest hurdle to artificial intelligence adoption

Managers of companies in the industrial sector, including construction, have bought the hype of artificial intelligence (AI) as a transformative technology, but their organizations are not ready to realize its promise, according to research from IFS, a global cloud enterprise software company. An IFS survey of 1,700 senior decision-makers found that 84% of executives anticipate massive organizational benefits from AI. 

halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021