Dear CAE Members,
September 24, 2019, marks a major milestone in our work to help design and build safer, more secure and welcoming schools. The AIA CAE has been actively engaged with the advocacy efforts outlined in the message we received from AIA national and we too applaud the Senators who have stepped up to help create a much needed resource for our members and the clients we serve. The School Safety Clearinghouse Act of 2019 establishes a central repository of vetted and unbiased information to assist architects and school and university communities to help make their campuses safer through design.
At our summit on Safe, Secure and Welcoming Schools last November, we learned from a diverse group of stakeholders of the need for this trusted resource. The AIA CAE continues to be involved in advising DHS on the roll-out of this clearinghouse and we believe it will be a valuable resource to those who are designing schools and universities across the country. We need your help to continue this fight, however!
As you can see in the email from AIA President Bill Bates below, we need our members to reach out to you Senators to urge them to co-sponsor this important piece of legislation . It takes about 5 minutes of your time, but we hope the impact of your efforts will be felt by communities across the country for years to come.
Thank you and feel free to reach out to the AIA CAE to become more engaged in our specific advocacy efforts.
Sincerely,
Karina Ruiz, AIA |LEED AP BD+C
2019 AIA CAE Chair
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Dear AIA Member,
More than one year into AIA's national school safety campaign, architects are making progress on one of the most pressing issues of our time!
Last December, AIA's recommendations were overwhelmingly reflected in the final report of the Federal Commission on School Safety. In June, AIA worked with US House Republicans and Democrats to secure increased funding for local school officials to use for designing safer schools.
And now comes the launch of another one of the signature policy priorities of the campaign - a "one-stop" repository of information regarding safe school design. On September 23, 2019 the bipartisan School Safety Clearinghouse Act of 2019 was introduced. This bill, S. 2530, would provide state and local education officials with much needed, unbiased information and best practices for making their schools safer through design. Learn more about it here.
AIA is working on Capitol Hill every day to ensure that design is front and center in the efforts to protect our children and teachers. That's why we need you to help continue our progress.
Act now and please email and tweet your US senators to ask them to co-sponsor the School Safety Clearinghouse Act. As an architect and constituent, your appeal will be taken seriously. Take action here: https://www.aia.org/takeaction/school-safety
After you contact your senator, remember to forward this message to your friends and colleagues, and ask them to make their voice heard too!
There is strength in numbers! Let's show them how strong we are and the importance of design to address school shootings.
Sincerely,
William J. Bates, FAIA, 2019 AIA President
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B. Ruiz AIA
Principal
BRIC Architecture, Inc (duplicate 1)
Portland OR
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