Florida Senate - 2022 SB 802 By Senator Gruters 23-00085B-22 2022802__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to school safety; amending s. 943.082, 3 F.S.; requiring the FortifyFL reporting tool to notify 4 reporting parties that submitting false information 5 may subject them to criminal penalties; providing that 6 certain reports will remain anonymous; amending s. 7 1001.11, F.S.; requiring the Commissioner of Education 8 to oversee and enforce compliance with requirements 9 relating to school safety and security; requiring the 10 commissioner to take specified actions under certain 11 circumstances relating to noncompliance; amending s. 12 1001.20, F.S.; requiring the Department of Educations 13 Office of Inspector General to investigate certain 14 allegations if the commissioner determines that a 15 district school board is unwilling or unable to 16 address the allegations; amending s. 1001.212, F.S.; 17 revising the duties of the Office of Safe Schools; 18 amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; requiring certain law 19 enforcement officers to be physically present and 20 directly involved in active assailant emergency 21 drills; requiring the State Board of Education to 22 adopt rules; specifying the requirements for the 23 rules; requiring district school boards and charter 24 school governing boards to adopt family reunification 25 plans; providing for the update and review of such 26 plan; requiring all members of threat assessment teams 27 to be involved in certain processes and decisions; 28 amending s. 1006.12, F.S.; making technical changes; 29 authorizing school safety officers to make arrests on 30 property owned or leased by a charter school under a 31 charter contract; requiring district school 32 superintendents or charter school administrators, 33 instead of school districts, to notify county sheriffs 34 and the Office of Safe Schools of certain safe-school 35 officer-related incidents; specifying training 36 requirements for certain safe-school officers; 37 amending s. 1006.1493, F.S.; requiring the Florida 38 Safe Schools Assessment Tool to address policies and 39 procedures to prepare for and respond to natural and 40 manmade disasters; amending s. 1008.32, F.S.; 41 authorizing the State Board of Education to direct a 42 school district to suspend the salaries of certain 43 officials if the state board determines the district 44 school board is unwilling or unable to comply with law 45 or state board rule; providing effective dates. 46 47 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 48 49 Section 1.Effective October 1, 2022, paragraph (c) is 50 added to subsection (2) of section 943.082, Florida Statutes, to 51 read: 52 943.082School Safety Awareness Program. 53 (2)The reporting tool must notify the reporting party of 54 the following information: 55 (c)That if, following an investigation, it is determined 56 that a person knowingly submitted a false tip through FortifyFL, 57 the Internet protocol (IP) address of the device on which the 58 tip was submitted will be provided to law enforcement agencies 59 for further investigation, and the reporting party may be 60 subject to criminal penalties under s. 837.05. In all other 61 circumstances, unless the reporting party has chosen to disclose 62 his or her identity, the report will remain anonymous. 63 Section 2.Subsection (9) of section 1001.11, Florida 64 Statutes, is amended to read: 65 1001.11Commissioner of Education; other duties. 66 (9)The commissioner shall oversee and enforce compliance 67 with the requirements relating to school safety and security 68 requirements of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public 69 Safety Act, chapter 2018-3, Laws of Florida, by school 70 districts; district school superintendents; and public schools, 71 including charter schools. Upon notification by the Office of 72 Safe Schools of a school districts substantiated noncompliance 73 with school safety and security requirements, the commissioner 74 must require the district school board to withhold further 75 payment of the salary of the superintendent, as authorized under 76 s. 1001.42(13)(b). Upon notification by the Office of Safe 77 Schools that a charter school has failed to comply with the 78 requirements relating to school safety and security, the 79 commissioner must facilitate compliance by charter schools by 80 recommending actions to the district school board pursuant to s. 81 1002.33. The commissioner must facilitate compliance to the 82 maximum extent provided under law, identify incidents of 83 noncompliance, and impose or recommend to the State Board of 84 Education, the Governor, or the Legislature enforcement and 85 sanctioning actions pursuant to s. 1008.32 and other authority 86 granted under law. 87 Section 3.Paragraph (e) of subsection (4) of section 88 1001.20, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 89 1001.20Department under direction of state board. 90 (4)The Department of Education shall establish the 91 following offices within the Office of the Commissioner of 92 Education which shall coordinate their activities with all other 93 divisions and offices: 94 (e)Office of Inspector General.Organized using existing 95 resources and funds and responsible for promoting 96 accountability, efficiency, and effectiveness and detecting 97 fraud and abuse within school districts, the Florida School for 98 the Deaf and the Blind, and Florida College System institutions 99 in Florida. If the Commissioner of Education determines that a 100 district school board, the Board of Trustees for the Florida 101 School for the Deaf and the Blind, or a Florida College System 102 institution board of trustees is unwilling or unable to address 103 substantiated allegations made by any person relating to waste, 104 fraud, or financial mismanagement within the school district, 105 the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind, or the Florida 106 College System institution, the office must shall conduct, 107 coordinate, or request investigations into such substantiated 108 allegations. If the Commissioner of Education determines that a 109 district school board is unwilling or unable to address credible 110 allegations made by any person relating to compliance with the 111 requirements relating to school safety and security, the office 112 must conduct, coordinate, or request investigations into such 113 allegations. The office shall investigate allegations or reports 114 of possible fraud or abuse against a district school board made 115 by any member of the Cabinet; the presiding officer of either 116 house of the Legislature; a chair of a substantive or 117 appropriations committee with jurisdiction; or a member of the 118 board for which an investigation is sought. The office shall 119 have access to all information and personnel necessary to 120 perform its duties and shall have all of its current powers, 121 duties, and responsibilities authorized in s. 20.055. 122 Section 4.Present subsections (14) and (15) of section 123 1001.212, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (15) 124 and (16), respectively, a new subsection (14) and subsection 125 (17) are added to that section, and subsections (2) and (6) of 126 that section are amended, to read: 127 1001.212Office of Safe Schools.There is created in the 128 Department of Education the Office of Safe Schools. The office 129 is fully accountable to the Commissioner of Education. The 130 office shall serve as a central repository for best practices, 131 training standards, and compliance oversight in all matters 132 regarding school safety and security, including prevention 133 efforts, intervention efforts, and emergency preparedness 134 planning. The office shall: 135 (2)Provide ongoing professional development opportunities 136 to school district and charter school personnel. 137 (6)Coordinate with the Department of Law Enforcement to 138 provide a unified search tool, known as the Florida School 139 Safety Portal, centralized integrated data repository and data 140 analytics resources to improve access to timely, complete, and 141 accurate information integrating data from, at a minimum, but 142 not limited to, the following data sources by August 1, 2019: 143 (a)Social media Internet posts; 144 (b)The Department of Children and Families; 145 (c)The Department of Law Enforcement; 146 (d)The Department of Juvenile Justice; 147 (e)The mobile suspicious activity reporting tool known as 148 FortifyFL; 149 (f)School environmental safety incident reports collected 150 under subsection (8); and 151 (g)Local law enforcement. 152 153 Data that is exempt or confidential and exempt from public 154 records requirements retains its exempt or confidential and 155 exempt status when incorporated into the centralized integrated 156 data repository. To maintain the confidentiality requirements 157 attached to the information provided to the centralized 158 integrated data repository by the various state and local 159 agencies, data governance and security shall ensure compliance 160 with all applicable state and federal data privacy requirements 161 through the use of user authorization and role-based security, 162 data anonymization and aggregation and auditing capabilities. To 163 maintain the confidentiality requirements attached to the 164 information provided to the centralized integrated data 165 repository by the various state and local agencies, each source 166 agency providing data to the repository shall be the sole 167 custodian of the data for the purpose of any request for 168 inspection or copies thereof under chapter 119. The department 169 shall only allow access to data from the source agencies in 170 accordance with rules adopted by the respective source agencies 171 and the requirements of the Federal Bureau of Investigation 172 Criminal Justice Information Services security policy, where 173 applicable. 174 (14)Develop, in coordination with the Division of 175 Emergency Management; other federal, state, and local law 176 enforcement agencies; fire and rescue agencies; and first 177 responder agencies, a model family reunification plan for use by 178 child care facilities, public K-12 schools, and public 179 postsecondary educational institutions that are closed or 180 unexpectedly evacuated due to a natural or manmade disaster. 181 This model plan must be reviewed annually and updated, as 182 applicable. 183 (17)Maintain a current directory of public and private 184 school-based diversion programs and cooperate with each judicial 185 circuit and the Department of Juvenile Justice to facilitate 186 their efforts to monitor and enforce each governing bodys 187 compliance with s. 985.12. 188 Section 5.Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) and paragraph 189 (a) of subsection (7) of section 1006.07, Florida Statutes, are 190 amended, and paragraph (d) is added to subsection (6) of that 191 section, to read: 192 1006.07District school board duties relating to student 193 discipline and school safety.The district school board shall 194 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 195 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 196 attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 197 welfare of students, including: 198 (4)EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES. 199 (a)Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures, in 200 consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies, for 201 emergency drills and for actual emergencies, including, but not 202 limited to, fires, natural disasters, active assailant and 203 hostage situations, and bomb threats, for all students and 204 faculty at all public schools of the district composed comprised 205 of grades K-12, pursuant to State Board of Education rules. 206 Drills for active assailant and hostage situations must shall be 207 conducted in accordance with developmentally appropriate and 208 age-appropriate procedures, as specified in State Board of 209 Education rules at least as often as other emergency drills. Law 210 enforcement officers responsible for responding to the school in 211 the event of an active assailant emergency, as determined 212 necessary by the sheriff in coordination with the districts 213 school safety specialist, must be physically present on campus 214 and directly involved in the execution of active assailant 215 emergency drills. District school board policies must shall 216 include commonly used alarm system responses for specific types 217 of emergencies and verification by each school that drills have 218 been provided as required by law, State Board of Education 219 rules, and fire protection codes and may provide accommodations 220 for drills conducted by exceptional student education centers. 221 District school boards shall establish emergency response and 222 emergency preparedness policies and procedures that include, but 223 are not limited to, identifying the individuals responsible for 224 contacting the primary emergency response agency and the 225 emergency response agency that is responsible for notifying the 226 school district for each type of emergency. The State Board of 227 Education shall refer to recommendations provided in reports 228 published pursuant to s. 943.687 for guidance and, by August 1, 229 2023, consult with state and local constituencies to adopt rules 230 applicable to the requirements of this subsection which, at a 231 minimum, define the terms emergency drill, active threat, 232 and after-action report and establish minimum emergency drill 233 policies and procedures related to the timing, frequency, 234 participation, training, notification, accommodations, and 235 responses to threat situations by incident type, school level, 236 school type, and student and school characteristics. The rules 237 must require all types of emergency drills to be conducted no 238 less frequently than on an annual school year basis. 239 (6)SAFETY AND SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.Each district 240 school superintendent shall establish policies and procedures 241 for the prevention of violence on school grounds, including the 242 assessment of and intervention with individuals whose behavior 243 poses a threat to the safety of the school community. 244 (d)Each district school board and charter school governing 245 board shall adopt, in coordination with local law enforcement 246 agencies, a family reunification plan to reunite students and 247 employees with their families in the event that a school is 248 closed or unexpectedly evacuated due to a natural or manmade 249 disaster. This reunification plan must be reviewed annually and 250 updated, as applicable. 251 (7)THREAT ASSESSMENT TEAMS.Each district school board 252 shall adopt policies for the establishment of threat assessment 253 teams at each school whose duties include the coordination of 254 resources and assessment and intervention with individuals whose 255 behavior may pose a threat to the safety of school staff or 256 students consistent with the model policies developed by the 257 Office of Safe Schools. Such policies must include procedures 258 for referrals to mental health services identified by the school 259 district pursuant to s. 1012.584(4), when appropriate, and 260 procedures for behavioral threat assessments in compliance with 261 the instrument developed pursuant to s. 1001.212(12). 262 (a)A threat assessment team shall include persons with 263 expertise in counseling, instruction, school administration, and 264 law enforcement. All members of the threat assessment team must 265 be involved in the threat assessment process and final 266 decisionmaking. The threat assessment teams shall identify 267 members of the school community to whom threatening behavior 268 should be reported and provide guidance to students, faculty, 269 and staff regarding recognition of threatening or aberrant 270 behavior that may represent a threat to the community, school, 271 or self. Upon the availability of the behavioral threat 272 assessment instrument developed pursuant to s. 1001.212(12), the 273 threat assessment team shall use that instrument. 274 Section 6.Present subsection (6) of section 1006.12, 275 Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (8), a new 276 subsection (6) and subsection (7) are added to that section, and 277 paragraph (c) of subsection (1), paragraphs (a) and (b) of 278 subsection (2), and subsection (5) of that section are amended, 279 to read: 280 1006.12Safe-school officers at each public school.For the 281 protection and safety of school personnel, property, students, 282 and visitors, each district school board and school district 283 superintendent shall partner with law enforcement agencies or 284 security agencies to establish or assign one or more safe-school 285 officers at each school facility within the district, including 286 charter schools. A district school board must collaborate with 287 charter school governing boards to facilitate charter school 288 access to all safe-school officer options available under this 289 section. The school district may implement any combination of 290 the options in subsections (1)-(4) to best meet the needs of the 291 school district and charter schools. 292 (1)SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER.A school district may 293 establish school resource officer programs through a cooperative 294 agreement with law enforcement agencies. 295 (c)Complete mental health crisis intervention training 296 using a curriculum developed by a national organization with 297 expertise in mental health crisis intervention. The training 298 shall improve officers knowledge and skills as first responders 299 to incidents involving students with emotional disturbance or 300 mental illness, including de-escalation skills to ensure student 301 and officer safety. 302 (2)SCHOOL SAFETY OFFICER.A school district may commission 303 one or more school safety officers for the protection and safety 304 of school personnel, property, and students within the school 305 district. The district school superintendent may recommend, and 306 the district school board may appoint, one or more school safety 307 officers. 308 (a)School safety officers shall undergo criminal 309 background checks, drug testing, and a psychological evaluation 310 and be law enforcement officers, as defined in s. 943.10(1), 311 certified under the provisions of chapter 943 and employed by 312 either a law enforcement agency or by the district school board. 313 If the officer is employed by the district school board, the 314 district school board is the employing agency for purposes of 315 chapter 943, and must comply with the provisions of that 316 chapter. 317 (b)A school safety officer has and shall exercise the 318 power to make arrests for violations of law on district school 319 board property or on property owned or leased by a charter 320 school under a charter contract, as applicable, and to arrest 321 persons, whether on or off such property, who violate any law on 322 such property under the same conditions that deputy sheriffs are 323 authorized to make arrests. A school safety officer has the 324 authority to carry weapons when performing his or her official 325 duties. 326 (5)NOTIFICATION.The district school superintendent or 327 charter school administrator school district shall notify the 328 county sheriff and the Office of Safe Schools immediately after, 329 but no later than 72 hours after: 330 (a)A safe-school officer is dismissed for misconduct or is 331 otherwise disciplined. 332 (b)A safe-school officer discharges his or her firearm in 333 the exercise of the safe-school officers duties, other than for 334 training purposes. 335 (6)CRISIS INTERVENTION TRAINING.Each safe-school officer 336 who is also a sworn law enforcement officer shall complete 337 mental health crisis intervention training using a curriculum 338 developed by a national organization with expertise in mental 339 health crisis intervention. The training must improve the 340 officers knowledge and skills as a first responder to incidents 341 involving students with emotional disturbance or mental illness, 342 including de-escalation skills to ensure student and officer 343 safety. 344 (7)LIMITATIONS.An individual must satisfy the background 345 screening, psychological evaluation, and drug test requirements 346 and be approved by the sheriff before participating in any 347 training required by s. 30.15(1)(k), which may be conducted only 348 by a sheriff. 349 350 If a district school board, through its adopted policies, 351 procedures, or actions, denies a charter school access to any 352 safe-school officer options pursuant to this section, the school 353 district must assign a school resource officer or school safety 354 officer to the charter school. Under such circumstances, the 355 charter schools share of the costs of the school resource 356 officer or school safety officer may not exceed the safe school 357 allocation funds provided to the charter school pursuant to s. 358 1011.62(13) and shall be retained by the school district. 359 Section 7.Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 360 1006.1493, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 361 1006.1493Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool. 362 (2)The FSSAT must help school officials identify threats, 363 vulnerabilities, and appropriate safety controls for the schools 364 that they supervise, pursuant to the security risk assessment 365 requirements of s. 1006.07(6). 366 (a)At a minimum, the FSSAT must address all of the 367 following components: 368 1.School emergency and crisis preparedness planning; 369 2.Security, crime, and violence prevention policies and 370 procedures; 371 3.Physical security measures; 372 4.Professional development training needs; 373 5.An examination of support service roles in school 374 safety, security, and emergency planning; 375 6.School security and school police staffing, operational 376 practices, and related services; 377 7.School and community collaboration on school safety; and 378 8.Policies and procedures for school officials to prepare 379 for and respond to natural and manmade disasters, including 380 family reunification plans to reunite students and employees 381 with their families after a school is closed or unexpectedly 382 evacuated due to such disasters; and 383 9.A return on investment analysis of the recommended 384 physical security controls. 385 Section 8.Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (4) of 386 section 1008.32, Florida Statutes, to read: 387 1008.32State Board of Education oversight enforcement 388 authority.The State Board of Education shall oversee the 389 performance of early learning coalitions, district school 390 boards, and Florida College System institution boards of 391 trustees in enforcement of all laws and rules. District school 392 boards and Florida College System institution boards of trustees 393 shall be primarily responsible for compliance with law and state 394 board rule. 395 (4)If the State Board of Education determines that an 396 early learning coalition, a district school board, or a Florida 397 College System institution board of trustees is unwilling or 398 unable to comply with law or state board rule within the 399 specified time, the state board has shall have the authority to 400 initiate any of the following actions: 401 (e)When the noncompliance is related to school safety 402 overseen by a district school board, direct the school district 403 to suspend the salary of the district school superintendent and, 404 if the superintendent is appointed, the salaries of the district 405 school board members until such time as the noncompliance is 406 remedied. 407 Section 9.Except as otherwise expressly provided in this 408 act, this act shall take effect July 1, 2022.