The dramatic rise in threats and incidents aimed at Jewish community centers and day schools has led to a proposed $1.5 million request to the state for security measures that include installation of bullet-proof glass at Jewish schools around Florida, and a Florida House subcommittee overwhelmingly approved Monday.
“There has been a dramatic rise in the threats against Jewish Day schools and Jewish institutions since the first of the year,” said state Rep. Randy Fine, a Republican from Brevard County who successfully presented House Bill 3653 to the House PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee Monday.
That dramatic rise, by his count, included 17 incidents in Florida this year, and 154 nationally, including an incident in Indiana when someone shot a bullet through the window of a Jewish school in late February.
“People are scared. Students are missing school. Parents are withdrawing their children from school and considering putting them in an alternative school,” Fine said.