Florida Lawmakers Vote To Fund Jewish School Security
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The budget committees of the Florida State House and Senate each voted to set aside funds to upgrade security at Jewish schools.
The amounts set aside by the lawmakers in the votes on Wednesday range from $254,000 up to $500,000, the Associated Press reported.
There have been threats made to 17 Jewish Community Centers and Jewish institutions in the state so far this year.
Many of the threats were part of the more than 100 bomb threats called into Jewish Community Centers and Jewish organizations. A dual Israeli-American citizen living in southern Israel has been arrested, accused of making most of the threats using high tech-equipment from his bedroom,
Republican State Rep. Randy Fine told the Associated Press that the money allocated by the state legislature would pay for security upgrades to protect the some 10,000 students at Jewish day schools throughout the state. Among the security upgrades would be fences and bullet-proof glass.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
