State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-26, has been named co-chair of a group charged with examining school safety. [New Canaan Patch]

Article as it appeared in the New Canaan Patch

New Canaan’s Rep Taking Leadership Role in Examining School Safety

The Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Task Force is hosting a series of public hearings as they look into the issues of school safety, gun violence and mental health in the wake of the Newtown school shooting.

By Gary Jeanfaivre Email the author January 20, 2013

One of New Canaan’s representatives in Hartford is taking a leadership role as Connecticut seeks to bring about legislative and policy changes in response to the Newtown school shooting.

State Sen. Toni Boucher, R-26, has been named co-chair of a group charged with examining school safety. The group is one of three created under the auspices of the newly formed Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Task Force.

The other groups will be examining gun safety and mental health issues, two of the hot button topics that have developed locally and nationally since the Dec. 14 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School took the life of 20 students and six educators.

As part of its work, the task force has scheduled a series of public hearings — all of which will take place in room 2C at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford. The schedule is as follows:

School Safety: Jan. 25 at 9:30 a.m.
Gun Safety: Jan. 28 at 10 a.m.
Mental Health Issues: Jan. 29 at 10 a.m.
A fourth public hearing will take place at Newtown High School on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m.

Ridgefield has already taken steps to improve security at its schools, and more measures are under consideration. Meanwhile, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy also created the Sandy Hook Advisory Commission to look into the aforementioned issues.