Two candidates are vying to unseat incumbent state Sen. Mario M. Scavello in a race serving the 40th District. Democrat Tarah Probst and Libertarian Adam Reinhardt will challenge incumbent Scavello.

The 40th District includes, in Northampton County, boroughs of Bangor, Bath, Chapman, East Bangor, Nazareth, Pen Argyl, Portland, Roseto, Walnutport and Wind Gap and townships of Allen, Bushkill, East Allen, Forks, Hanover, Lehigh, Lower Mount Bethel, Lower Nazareth, Moore, Plainfield, Upper Mount Bethel, Upper Nazareth and Washington.

We asked the candidates to respond to the following question. Following passage of the comprehensive school safety law, what else do you believe needs to be done to keep children safe in school?

Democrat

Tarah Probst

I applaud the passage of Act 44 that restructures school safety funding programs and provides increased support and resources for reducing violence. I want to see a strong auditing process in place to gauge the effectiveness of the programs to develop best-practice guidelines in school safety. We must actively promote the Safe2Say program for anonymous reporting of threatening activities. I would like to see more of the program resources dedicated to student assistance and behavioral health assessments. Beyond the requirement that school entities appoint safety and security coordinators, I would create a statewide association to develop best practices.

Libertarian

Adam Reinhardt

We need to make sure our schools are safe, but we also don’t want them to look or feel like prison complexes. There is little evidence that an increased police presence makes kids more safe. There is, however, much evidence that an increased police presence leads more kids in the criminal justice system and at earlier ages. This especially affects children of color and children with special needs.

I would prefer if the security concerns of schools were privatized and handled by professionals who don’t have the authority to give our children criminal records before they even finish developing.

Scavello did not respond by press time.