Community Colleges are going to have wait until 2017 to increase security. That's because Oregon lawmakers denied a $17.6 million proposal to improve security at community colleges. Umpqua Community College, however, received money to rebuild Snyder hall, the site of a mass shooting last October.
John Wykoff is with the Oregon Community College Association. He says the tragic event at UCC caused schools around the state to reassess their own security.
Wykoff: "After the incident at Umpqua all of the colleges looked at their own campus safety needs. In fact we had a consultation done to come and help campuses prioritize what kinds of things you would put on a list for projects funded."
Wykoff says the legislature did not have time to research the feasibility of projects like outdoor PA speakers and up to date alert systems.
Next year Wykoff says he expects the Governor's campus safety task force to review security requests from Oregon's 17 community colleges and present them to the legislature.