Alabama 2023 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB42 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	HB42INTRODUCED
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3	3	PS7URE-1
4	4	By Representative Warren
5	5	RFD: Education Policy
6	6	First Read: 07-Mar-23
7	7	PFD: 23-Feb-23
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12	12	5 PS7URE-1 02/09/2023 KMS (L) cr 2023-188
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14	14	SYNOPSIS:
15	15	Under existing law, a local board of education
16	16	is required to develop a comprehensive school emergency
17	17	operations plan for each school under its jurisdiction.
18	18	This bill would require regularly scheduled
19	19	lockdown drills conducted under the plan to include the
20	20	participation of school resource officers and law
21	21	enforcement and would designate those days on which
22	22	drills are conducted as school safety and awareness
23	23	days.
24	24	A BILL
25	25	TO BE ENTITLED
26	26	AN ACT
27	27	Relating to public K-12 education; to amend Section
28	28	16-1-44, Code of Alabama 1975, providing for comprehensive
29	29	school emergency operations plans; to require the
30	30	participation of school resource officers and law enforcement
31	31	agencies in regularly scheduled lockdown drills; and to
32	32	designate the days on which lockdown drills are conducted as
33	33	school safety and awareness days.
34	34	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
35	35	Section 1. Section 16-1-44 of the Code of Alabama 1975,
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65	65	is amended to read as follows:
66	66	"§16-1-44
67	67	(a)(1) Each local board of education shall develop and
68	68	adopt a comprehensive school emergency operations plan for
69	69	each school under the authority of the board.
70	70	(2) The local board or its agent shall examine the
71	71	conditions and operations of each school under the authority
72	72	of the local board to determine hazards to student and staff
73	73	safety and shall propose changes, if needed to promote the
74	74	prevention of dangerous problems and circumstances.
75	75	(3) In developing the plan for each school, the local
76	76	board or its agent shall involve community law enforcement and
77	77	safety officials, including community fire and emergency
78	78	management assigned to the school.
79	79	(b)(1) The board shall incorporate into each
80	80	comprehensive school emergency operations plan the following:
81	81	a. Protocols for addressing each type of serious
82	82	threats to the safety of school property, students, employees,
83	83	or administrators which shall include, but not be limited to:
84	84	Security-related threats addressed within a school lockdown
85	85	plan, fire-related threats addressed within a fire safety
86	86	plan, and severe weather-related threats addressed within a
87	87	severe weather safety plan.
88	88	b. A protocol for responding to emergency events that
89	89	compromise the safety of school property, students, and
90	90	employees.
91	91	(2) Each protocol shall include procedures for
92	92	notification and responding to threats and emergency events,
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122	122	respectively, including such action as notification of
123	123	appropriate law enforcement and emergency response personnel
124	124	for assistance, and informing parents of affected students.
125	125	(3) Each comprehensive school emergency operations plan
126	126	shall include and use the following four alert levels, along
127	127	with set plans of notification, action, and procedures for
128	128	school personnel to follow in each circumstance:
129	129	1.a. Heightened Awareness. This means a potential may
130	130	exist for an unusual situation and all parties should have
131	131	heightened awareness to react as needed.
132	132	2.b. Secure Your Area of Responsibility. This means a
133	133	specific incident has occurred, such as a medical emergency or
134	134	a threat to one's self, and school personnel shall secure
135	135	their area of responsibility in order to decrease risk of
136	136	further incidents.
137	137	3.c. Secure Perimeter. A potential threat or danger
138	138	does exist or has occurred within the community or
139	139	neighborhood, and all parties should be aware to react as
140	140	needed.
141	141	4.d. Lockdown. Recognition of potential immediate
142	142	danger. Take immediate action using the safest and best option
143	143	for survival.
144	144	(c)(1) The board shall update the emergency operations
145	145	plan whenever a major modification to the building requires
146	146	changes in the procedures outlined in the plan and at other
147	147	necessary times. The school emergency operations safety plan
148	148	shall be reviewed and revised annually, as needed, by the
149	149	local board of education in consultation with the principal,
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179	179	administrative staff, faculty, and employees of the school.
180	180	(2) Upon request of law enforcement or safety
181	181	officials, or both, the local board shall provide a copy of
182	182	the current school emergency operations plan, which shall be
183	183	kept in a secure place and not considered public record.
184	184	(d) The local board shall grant access to each school
185	185	under its control to law enforcement and fire department
186	186	personnel to enable them to prepare for responding to threats
187	187	and emergency events affecting the school.
188	188	(e) The principal or his or her designee shall instruct
189	189	and train students concerning procedures to be used for
190	190	emergency drills and evacuations. The principal or his or her
191	191	designee shall ensure that all safety and security drills and
192	192	procedures are conducted and performed no less than what is
193	193	required by state or federal law, or both. The doors and exits
194	194	of each school may be locked from the outside but shall allow
195	195	for immediate egress by those inside the building during
196	196	school hours and at all school functions. An emergency drill
197	197	shall include, but not be limited to, safety, security, severe
198	198	weather, fire, and school lockdown drills.
199	199	(f) In conjunction with drills or evacuations required
200	200	by subsection (e), a principal or his or her designee shall
201	201	instruct students in safety precautions to be taken in case of
202	202	a severe weather watch, alert, or warning. A principal or his
203	203	or her designee shall designate, in accordance with standards
204	204	prescribed by the local superintendent of education in
205	205	conjunction with local public safety officials and the fire
206	206	marshal, or appropriate local fire safety official in counties
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236	236	that do not have a fire marshal, appropriate locations to be
237	237	used to shelter students in case of a severe weather watch,
238	238	alert, or warning.
239	239	(g) In the event of an immediate threat to a school
240	240	involving acts of violence, such as terrorism, a person
241	241	possessing a firearm or a deadly weapon, or any other threat
242	242	of violence, any person who perceives the threat, or his or
243	243	her designee, may institute a lockdown alert level for the
244	244	school.
245	245	(h) In addition to the requirements of subsection (e),
246	246	the principal or his or her designee shall conduct a school
247	247	lockdown drill during the first six weeks of the fall and
248	248	spring semesters of each school year to provide students with
249	249	instruction in the procedures to follow in the case of a
250	250	school lockdown. The principal or his or her designee shall
251	251	also hold an annual training session for employees of the
252	252	school regarding the school lockdown plan, drills, and
253	253	procedures to be conducted during a school year. The annual
254	254	training session shall include mental health awareness.
255	255	(1) School resource officers, school safety personnel,
256	256	and local and state law enforcement agencies shall participate
257	257	in regularly scheduled school lockdown drills.
258	258	(2) A day on which a lockdown drill is scheduled and
259	259	the importance of school safety and safety awareness is
260	260	emphasized shall be designated as a school safety and
261	261	awareness day.
262	262	(h)(i) Appropriate disciplinary action shall be taken
263	263	against any principal or his or her designee who knowingly
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293	293	neglects or refuses to comply with the requirements of this
294	294	section.
295	295	(i)(j) This section shall be read in pari materia with
296	296	other laws relating to school safety and emergency planning."
297	297	Section 2. This act shall become effective on the first
298	298	day of the third month following its passage and approval by
299	299	the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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