By: Toth H.B. No. 3290
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishing public school campus special threat
response plans.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.108, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read
as follows:
Sec. 37.108. MULTIHAZARD EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN; SAFETY
AND SECURITY AUDIT (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 using uniform
nomenclature found in the standard response protocol. 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;
(3) measures to ensure coordination with the
Department of State Health Services, [and] local emergency
management agencies, and emergency services 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).
(f) A school district, in coordination with emergency
services agencies, shall include in its multihazard emergency
operations plan a special threat response policy as described in
Section 37.1081.
(g) In this section "emergency services agency" includes a
law enforcement agency, a school security department, a health
department, an emergency medical services provider, and a fire
department.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by 37.1081 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.1081. CAMPUS SPECIAL THREAT RESPONSE POLICY. (a)
Each school district shall coordinate with each emergency services
agency serving the school district to:
(1) establish a policy using uniform nomenclature
found in the standard response protocol to be included in each
school district's multihazard emergency operations plan as
described by Sec. 37.108 for coordinating with emergency services
agencies when responding to a special threat on the campus of a
school;
(2) annually:
(A) during the regular school year conduct an
special threat drill with emergency services agencies, students,
and school employees, including substitute teachers, in accordance
with the policy; and
(B) review and, if necessary, revise the policy;
and
(3) not later than August 1 of each year, submit the
policy to the commissioner and the director of public safety.
(b) The response policy established under Subsection (a)(1)
must:
(1) include protocols for the first law enforcement
officer arriving at the scene to immediately:
(A) enter the premises where the emergency is
occurring;
(B) identify and evaluate the threat; and
(C) take action to eliminate the threat, if
feasible, or contain the threat to prevent further injuries and
protect the public while additional law enforcement officers are
summoned; and
(2) must be consented to by each emergency services
agency serving the school district, which consent may not be
unreasonably withheld.
(c) Each emergency services agency serving a school
district shall adopt a response policy incorporating the policy
established under Subsection (a)(1) and include any additional
information necessary for the emergency services district to
perform its duties under a school district's response policy.
(d) Rules and procedures shall be adopted by:
(1) the commissioner for the annual certification of a
school district's plan established under Subsection (a)(1); and
(2) the director of public safety for the annual
certification of an emergency service agency's plan established
under Subsection (c).
(d) In this section "emergency services agency" has the
meaning assigned by Section 37.108(g).
SECTION 3. (a) As soon as practicable after the effective
date of this Act:
(1) each school district and each emergency services
agency shall establish the policy required by Section 37.1081,
Education Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) the Commissioner of Education and the Director of
Public Safety shall adopt the rules and procedures required by
Section 37.1081, Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than August 1, 2020, each school district and
emergency services agency shall submit the initial policies to the
Commissioner of Education and the Director of Public Safety, as
required by Section 37.1081, Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 4. 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, 2019.