82R10250 EAH-D
By: Bonnen H.B. No. 2797
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to elimination of the requirement that school districts
and public junior college districts conduct periodic safety and
security audits of district facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.108(a) and (c-2), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(a) Each school district or public junior college district
shall adopt and implement a multihazard emergency operations plan
for use in the district's facilities. The plan must address
mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as defined by the
commissioner of education or commissioner of higher education in
conjunction with the governor's office of homeland security. The
plan must provide for:
(1) district employee training in responding to an
emergency;
(2) if the plan applies to a school district,
mandatory school drills and exercises to prepare district students
and employees for responding to an emergency; and
(3) measures to ensure coordination with the
Department of State Health Services and local emergency management
agencies, law enforcement, health departments, and fire
departments in the event of an emergency[; and
[(4) the implementation of a safety and security audit
as required by Subsection (b)].
(c-2) A document relating to a school district's or public
junior college district's multihazard emergency operations plan is
subject to disclosure if the document enables a person to:
(1) verify that the district has established a plan
and determine the agencies involved in the development of the plan
and the agencies coordinating with the district to respond to an
emergency, including the Department of State Health Services, local
emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies, health
departments, and fire departments;
(2) verify that the district's plan was reviewed
within the last 12 months and determine the specific review dates;
(3) verify that the plan addresses the four phases of
emergency management under Subsection (a);
(4) verify that district employees have been trained
to respond to an emergency and determine the types of training, the
number of employees trained, and the person conducting the
training;
(5) verify that each campus in the district has
conducted mandatory emergency drills and exercises in accordance
with the plan and determine the frequency of the drills;
(6) if the district is a school district, verify that
the district has established a plan for responding to a train
derailment if required under Subsection (d);
(7) [verify that the district has completed a safety
and security audit under Subsection (b) and determine the date the
audit was conducted, the person conducting the audit, and the date
the district presented the results of the audit to the district's
board of trustees;
[(8)] verify that the district has addressed any
recommendations by the district's board of trustees for improvement
of the plan and determine the district's progress within the last 12
months; and
(8) [(9)] if the district is a school district, verify
that the district has established a visitor policy and identify the
provisions governing access to a district building or other
district property.
SECTION 2. Section 37.109(b), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) The committee shall:
(1) participate on behalf of the district in
developing and implementing emergency plans consistent with the
district multihazard emergency operations plan required by Section
37.108(a) to ensure that the plans reflect specific campus,
facility, or support services needs;
(2) provide the district with any campus, facility, or
support services information required in connection with a [safety
and security audit required by Section 37.108(b), a safety and
security audit report required by Section 37.108(c), or another]
report required to be submitted by the district to the Texas School
Safety Center; and
(3) review each report required to be submitted by the
district to the Texas School Safety Center to ensure that the report
contains accurate and complete information regarding each campus,
facility, or support service in accordance with criteria
established by the center.
SECTION 3. Section 37.2161(a), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The center shall periodically provide a school safety
and security progress report to the governor, the legislature, the
State Board of Education, and the agency that contains current
information regarding school safety and security in the school
districts and public junior college districts of this state based
on:
(1) elements of each district's multihazard emergency
operations plan required by Section 37.108(a); and
(2) [elements of each district's safety and security
audit required by Section 37.108(b); and
[(3)] any [other] report required to be submitted to
the center.
SECTION 4. Sections 37.108(b), (c), and (c-1), Education
Code, are repealed.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.