Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB204 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	87R22655 JES-D
2		-	By: Thierry, Bonnen, Patterson, et al. H.B. No. 204
3		-	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 204:
4		-	By: Dutton C.S.H.B. No. 204
	1	+	87R77 JES-D
	2	+	By: Thierry H.B. No. 204
5	3
6	4
7	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	6		AN ACT
9		-	relating to school districts and open-enrollment charter schools
10		-	providing panic alert devices in classrooms.
	7	+	relating to requiring school districts and open-enrollment charter
	8	+	schools to provide a landline telephone or panic button in every
	9	+	classroom.
11	10		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12		-	SECTION 1. This Act may be cited as Alyssa's Law.
	11	+	SECTION 1. Sections 37.108(a) and (f), Education Code, are
	12	+	amended to read as follows:
	13	+	(a) Each school district or public junior college district
	14	+	shall adopt and implement a multihazard emergency operations plan
	15	+	for use in the district's facilities. The plan must address
	16	+	prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as
	17	+	defined by the Texas School Safety Center in conjunction with the
	18	+	governor's office of homeland security and the commissioner of
	19	+	education or commissioner of higher education, as applicable. The
	20	+	plan must provide for:
	21	+	(1) training in responding to an emergency for
	22	+	district employees, including substitute teachers;
	23	+	(2) measures to ensure district employees, including
	24	+	substitute teachers, have classroom access to:
	25	+	(A) a landline telephone or panic button, if the
	26	+	plan applies to a school district, allowing for immediate contact
	27	+	with district emergency services or emergency services agencies,
	28	+	law enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire
	29	+	departments; or
	30	+	(B) a telephone, including a cellular telephone,
	31	+	or another electronic communication device, if the plan applies to
	32	+	a junior college district, allowing for immediate contact with
	33	+	district emergency services or emergency services agencies, law
	34	+	enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments;
	35	+	(3) measures to ensure district communications
	36	+	technology and infrastructure are adequate to allow for
	37	+	communication during an emergency;
	38	+	(4) if the plan applies to a school district,
	39	+	mandatory school drills and exercises, including drills required
	40	+	under Section 37.114, to prepare district students and employees
	41	+	for responding to an emergency;
	42	+	(5) measures to ensure coordination with the
	43	+	Department of State Health Services and local emergency management
	44	+	agencies, law enforcement, health departments, and fire
	45	+	departments in the event of an emergency; and
	46	+	(6) the implementation of a safety and security audit
	47	+	as required by Subsection (b).
	48	+	(f) A school district shall include in its multihazard
	49	+	emergency operations plan:
	50	+	(1) a chain of command that designates the individual
	51	+	responsible for making final decisions during a disaster or
	52	+	emergency situation and identifies other individuals responsible
	53	+	for making those decisions if the designated person is unavailable;
	54	+	(2) provisions that address physical and
	55	+	psychological safety for responding to a natural disaster, active
	56	+	shooter, and any other dangerous scenario identified for purposes
	57	+	of this section by the agency or the Texas School Safety Center;
	58	+	(3) provisions for ensuring the safety of students in
	59	+	portable buildings;
	60	+	(4) provisions for ensuring that students and district
	61	+	personnel with disabilities are provided equal access to safety
	62	+	during a disaster or emergency situation;
	63	+	(5) provisions for providing immediate notification
	64	+	to parents, guardians, and other persons standing in parental
	65	+	relation in circumstances involving a significant threat to the
	66	+	health or safety of students, including identification of the
	67	+	individual with responsibility for overseeing the notification;
	68	+	(6) provisions for supporting the psychological
	69	+	safety of students, district personnel, and the community during
	70	+	the response and recovery phase following a disaster or emergency
	71	+	situation that:
	72	+	(A) are aligned with best practice-based
	73	+	programs and research-based practices recommended under Section
	74	+	38.351 [161.325, Health and Safety Code];
	75	+	(B) include strategies for ensuring any required
	76	+	professional development training for suicide prevention and
	77	+	grief-informed and trauma-informed care is provided to appropriate
	78	+	school personnel;
	79	+	(C) include training on integrating
	80	+	psychological safety and suicide prevention strategies into the
	81	+	district's plan, such as psychological first aid for schools
	82	+	training, from an approved list of recommended training established
	83	+	by the commissioner and Texas School Safety Center for:
	84	+	(i) members of the district's school safety
	85	+	and security committee under Section 37.109;
	86	+	(ii) district school counselors and mental
	87	+	health professionals; and
	88	+	(iii) educators and other district
	89	+	personnel as determined by the district;
	90	+	(D) include strategies and procedures for
	91	+	integrating and supporting physical and psychological safety that
	92	+	align with the provisions described by Subdivision (2); and
	93	+	(E) implement trauma-informed policies;
	94	+	(7) a policy for providing a substitute teacher access
	95	+	to school campus buildings and materials necessary for the
	96	+	substitute teacher to carry out the duties of a district employee
	97	+	during an emergency or a mandatory emergency drill; [and]
	98	+	(8) the name of each individual on the district's
	99	+	school safety and security committee established under Section
	100	+	37.109 and the date of each committee meeting during the preceding
	101	+	year; and
	102	+	(9) certification that the district is in compliance
	103	+	with Section 37.116, which requires each classroom in the district
	104	+	to be equipped with a landline telephone or panic button.
13	105		SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
14		-	amended by adding Sections 37.116 and 37.117 to read as follows:
15		-	Sec. 37.116. PANIC ALERT DEVICE. (a) Except as provided by
16		-	Section 37.117, each school district and open-enrollment charter
17		-	school shall provide each classroom in the district or school with a
18		-	panic alert device that allows for immediate contact with district
19		-	emergency services or emergency services agencies, law enforcement
20		-	agencies, health departments, and fire departments.
21		-	(b) A panic alert device provided by a school district or
22		-	open-enrollment charter school under this section does not satisfy
23		-	the requirement under Section 37.108(a)(2) for the district or
24		-	school to ensure employees have classroom access to a telephone or
25		-	another electronic communication device.
26		-	(c) To comply with this section, a school district or
27		-	open-enrollment charter school may:
28		-	(1) use funds provided to the district or school
29		-	through the school safety allotment under Section 42.168 or other
30		-	available funds; and
31		-	(2) use the district's or school's customary
32		-	procurement process.
33		-	Sec. 37.117. PANIC ALERT DEVICE OPT-OUT RESOLUTION. The
34		-	board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of an
35		-	open-enrollment charter school may elect not to provide panic alert
36		-	devices as required by Section 37.116 if the board or governing body
37		-	determines that the district or school does not have sufficient
38		-	money available to provide the devices. An election made under this
39		-	section must be authorized by a resolution adopted by majority vote
40		-	of the board or governing body in an open meeting.
	106	+	amended by adding Section 37.116 to read as follows:
	107	+	Sec. 37.116. REQUIRED CLASSROOM LANDLINE TELEPHONE OR PANIC
	108	+	BUTTON. Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
	109	+	shall provide each classroom in the district or school with a
	110	+	landline telephone or panic button that allows for immediate
	111	+	contact with district emergency services or emergency services
	112	+	agencies, law enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire
	113	+	departments.
41	114		SECTION 3. This Act applies beginning with the 2023-2024
42	115		school year.
43	116		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
44	117		a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
45	118		provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
46	119		Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
47	120		Act takes effect September 1, 2021.