Substitute House Bill No. 7291
Public Act No. 19-52
AN ACT CONCERNING SC HOOL SECURITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-222n of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):
(a) Not later than January 1, 2014, the Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection, in consultation with the Department of
Education, shall develop school security and safety plan standards.
Not later than January 1, 2020, and every three years thereafter, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, in
consultation with the Department of Education, shall reevaluate and
update the school security and safety plan standards. The school
security and safety plan standards shall be an all-hazards approach to
emergencies at public schools and shall include, but not be limited to,
(1) involvement of local officials, including the chief executive officer
of the municipality, the superintendent of schools, law enforcement,
fire, public health, emergency management and emergency medical
services, in the development of school security and safety plans, (2) a
command center organization structure based on the federal National
Incident Management System and a description of the responsibilities
of such command center organization, (3) a requirement that a school
security and safety committee be established at each school, in Substitute House Bill No. 7291
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accordance with the provisions of section 10-222m, (4) crisis
management procedures, (5) a requirement that local law enforcement
and other local public safety officials evaluate, score and provide
feedback on fire drills and crisis response drills, conducted pursuant to
section 10-231, (6) a requirement that local and regional boards of
education annually submit reports to the Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection regarding such fire drills and crisis
response drills, (7) procedures for managing various types of
emergencies, (8) a requirement that each local and regional board of
education conduct a security and vulnerability assessment for each
school under the jurisdiction of such board every two years and
develop a school security and safety plan for each such school, in
accordance with the provisions of section 10-222m, based on the results
of such assessment, (9) a requirement that the safe school climate
committee for each school, established pursuant to section 10-222k,
collect and evaluate information relating to instances of disturbing or
threatening behavior that may not meet the definition of bullying, as
defined in section 10-222d, and report such information, as necessary,
to the district safe school climate coordinator, described in section 10-
222k, and the school security and safety committee for the school,
established pursuant to section 10-222m, and (10) a requirement that
the school security and safety plan for each school provide an
orientation on such school security and safety plan to each school
employee, as defined in section 10-222d, at such school and provide
violence prevention training in a manner prescribed in such school
security and safety plan. The Department of Emergency Services and
Public Protection shall make such standards available to local officials,
including local and regional boards of education, and the Department
of Education shall distribute such standards to all public schools
within the state.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the
Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall submit Substitute House Bill No. 7291
Public Act No. 19-52 3 of 4
the school security and safety plan standards and any
recommendations for legislation regarding such standards to the joint
standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of
matters relating to public safety and education, in accordance with the
provisions of section 11-4a.
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) (a) The Department of Emergency
Services and Public Protection shall evaluate and seek methods to
simplify the documentation required from local and regional boards of
education to comply with the reporting requirements of section 10-
222m of the general statutes and subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of
section 10-222n of the general statutes, as amended by this act. Not
later than January 1, 2020, the department shall submit a report, in
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes,
to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having
cognizance of matters relating to public safety, identifying the essential
components and documentation required for such reports and
indicating how the department will simplify the required
documentation. The department shall implement new requirements
for documentation for reports, pursuant to the department's findings,
not later than July 1, 2020.
(b) The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection
and the School Safety Infrastructure Council, established under section
10-292r of the general statutes, shall evaluate and seek methods to
simplify the documentation required of applicants for the school
security infrastructure competitive grant program. Not later than
January 1, 2020, the department and council shall submit a report, in
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes,
to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having
cognizance of matters relating to public safety, identifying the essential
components and documentation required for such applications and
indicating how the department will simplify the required Substitute House Bill No. 7291
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documentation. The department and council shall implement new
requirements for documentation for applications, pursuant to the
department's and council's findings, not later than July 1, 2020.
Sec. 3. Section 29-452 of the general statutes is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019):
The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall
develop criteria to identify qualified school security consultants
operating in this state. The department shall establish and maintain a
registry of [school security consultants operating in the state] such
consultants. The registry shall contain the names and employers of
qualified school security consultants and such other information as the
Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection may
require. Such registry shall be updated at least annually by the
department, be made available to the public upon request and be
published on the department's Internet web site.