H.B. No. 3597
AN ACT
relating to policies, procedures, and measures for school safety in
public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 37.108(c-2) and (d), Education Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(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 five [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
(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.
(d) A school district shall include in its multihazard
emergency operations plan a policy for responding to a train
derailment near a district school. A school district is only
required to adopt the policy described by this subsection if a
[district] school district facility is located within 1,000 yards
of a railroad track, as measured from any point on the school's real
property boundary line. The school district may use any available
community resources in developing the policy described by this
subsection.
SECTION 2. Section 37.114, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.114. EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS; MANDATORY SCHOOL
DRILLS. The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas School
Safety Center and the state fire marshal, shall adopt rules:
(1) providing procedures for evacuating and securing
school property during an emergency; and
(2) designating the number and type of mandatory
school drills to be conducted each semester of the school year, not
to exceed a total of eight drills[, including designating the
number of:
[(A) evacuation fire exit drills; and
[(B) lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place, and
evacuation drills].
SECTION 3. Section 37.115(d), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The superintendent of the district shall ensure, to the
greatest extent practicable, that the members appointed to each
team have expertise in counseling, behavior management, mental
health and substance use, classroom instruction, special
education, school administration, school safety and security,
emergency management, and law enforcement. A team may serve more
than one campus of a school district, provided that each district
campus is assigned a team.
SECTION 4. Section 37.207(e), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) If three [six] months after the date of the initial
notification required by Subsection (d) the district has still not
reported the results of its audit to the center, the center shall
notify the agency and the district of the district's requirement to
conduct a public hearing under Section 37.1081. This subsection
applies only to a school district.
SECTION 5. Section 37.2121, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) Each school district that enters into a memorandum of
understanding or mutual aid agreement addressing issues that affect
school safety and security shall, at the center's request, provide
a copy of the memorandum or agreement [following information] to
the center[:
[(1) the name of each entity with which the school
district has entered into a memorandum of understanding or mutual
aid agreement;
[(2) the effective date of each memorandum or
agreement; and
[(3) a summary of each memorandum or agreement].
(d-1) A copy of a memorandum of understanding or mutual aid
agreement provided to the center under Subsection (d) is
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code.
SECTION 6. Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 411.14055 to read as follows:
Sec. 411.14055. ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
INFORMATION: TEXAS SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER. The Texas School Safety
Center at Texas State University is entitled to obtain from the
department criminal history record information maintained by the
department that relates to a person who is registering with the
Texas School Safety Center to provide school safety or security
consulting services under Section 37.2091, Education Code.
SECTION 7. 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, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3597 was passed by the House on May 8,
2021, by the following vote: Yeas 134, Nays 5, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3597 on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 139, Nays 9,
1 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3597 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 25, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor