ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A local state representative is sponsoring a bill to improve school safety.

HB 416, sponsored by Rep. Brenda Shields, R-St. Joseph, includes multiple provisions, such as requiring schools to adopt a comprehensive emergency operations plan to be shared with first responders, requiring schools to have bleeding control kits and equipping interior school doors with anti-intruder locks and exterior doors with bullet-resistant window film.

The inspiration for the bill came from a teacher from the St. Louis area who formed a committee and reached out to Shields to share their ideas.

“I said I would be happy to look at it,” Shields said. “I knew it was going to be a big lift, but I looked at his ideas and then I went to the Missouri School Board Association School Safety Center and then we crafted a bill that was a very comprehensive school safety piece of legislation.”

The bill establishes the “Stop the Bleed Act,” which includes the requirements for blood loss protocol. As part of the bill, a bleeding control kit must be placed in high-traffic areas, with a school health care provider being designated to receive annual training on its use.

News-Press NOW will have more on this story later today.