PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Rhode Island Senate has passed a package of school safety bills, including one that would keep all meetings and documents about school safety plans secret.
The secrecy measure, introduced with the support of Governor Chafee, has sparked opposition from The Rhode Island Press Association and other open government groups.
State lawmakers and the governor proposed the bills last month in the wake of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
One bill would require all schools to conduct school safety assessments and establish training and protocols for "responding to acts violence" including bomb threats, hostage-takings, intrusions and kidnappings.
Schools also would be required to conduct annual reviews and updates of emergency plans to be submitted by Nov. 1.
The bill and a related measure would exempt all school safety assessments and meetings and documents related to them from the state Open Meetings and Access to Public Records laws.
The legislation now goes to the House of Representatives.