By: Seliger S.B. No. 1556
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the School Safety Task Force and
school safety security criteria.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 418.0426 to read as follows:
Sec. 418.0426. SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE. (a) The chief of
the Texas Division of Emergency Management, or a designee of the
chief, the director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response
Training Center, or a designee of the director, the director of the
Texas School Safety Center, or a designee of the director, and the
agency director of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, or
a designee of the agency director, shall establish a School Safety
Task Force.
(b) The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management,
or a designee of the chief, shall serve as the chair of the School
Safety Task Force.
(c) The task force shall study best practices for use in
school multihazard emergency operations planning in order to make
recommendations to the Texas School Safety Center and the
governor's office of homeland security.
(d) The task force shall consider input from school safety
personnel, first responders, emergency managers, local officials,
school districts, educators, nonprofit organizations, and other
stakeholders in order to make its recommendations.
(e) The task force shall report its findings, including
recommendations for any necessary statutory changes, to the
legislature before September 1, 2014, and every subsequent
even-numbered year.
SECTION 2. Section 37.2051, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.2051. SECURITY CRITERIA FOR SAFETY PLANS
[INSTRUCTIONAL FACILITIES]. The center shall develop security
criteria that school districts may consider in the design of school
safety plans [instructional facilities].
SECTION 3. 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, 2013.