87R9622 JES-D
By: Powell S.B. No. 1683
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the use of the school safety allotment for a school
district's disaster or pandemic preparation and response.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.168, Education Code, as added by
Chapter 464 (S.B. 11), Acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2019, is transferred to Subchapter C, Chapter 48,
Education Code, redesignated as Section 48.115, Education Code, and
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 48.115 [42.168]. SCHOOL SAFETY ALLOTMENT. (a) From
funds appropriated for that purpose, the commissioner shall provide
to a school district an annual allotment of $18, or a greater [in
the] amount provided by appropriation, for each student in average
daily attendance.
(b) Funds allocated under this section must be used to
improve school safety and security, including costs associated
with:
(1) securing school facilities, including:
(A) improvements to school infrastructure;
(B) the use or installation of physical barriers;
and
(C) the purchase and maintenance of:
(i) security cameras or other security
equipment; and
(ii) technology, including communications
systems or devices, that facilitates communication and information
sharing between students, school personnel, and first responders in
an emergency;
(2) providing security for the district, including:
(A) employing school district peace officers,
private security officers, and school marshals; and
(B) collaborating with local law enforcement
agencies, such as entering into a memorandum of understanding for
the assignment of school resource officers to schools in the
district;
(3) school safety and security training and planning,
including:
(A) active shooter and emergency response
training;
(B) prevention and treatment programs relating
to addressing adverse childhood experiences; and
(C) the prevention, identification, and
management of emergencies and threats, including:
(i) providing mental health personnel and
support;
(ii) providing behavioral health services;
and
(iii) establishing threat reporting
systems; [and]
(4) providing programs related to suicide prevention,
intervention, and postvention; and
(5) disaster and pandemic preparation and response,
including purchasing any item recommended for disaster or pandemic
preparation or response by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention or a local health authority.
(c) A school district may use funds allocated under this
section for equipment or software that is used for a school safety
and security purpose and an instructional purpose, provided that
the instructional use does not compromise the safety and security
purpose of the equipment or software.
(d) The commissioner may accept gifts, grants, and
donations from any public or private source and shall seek to obtain
all available federal money to assist in providing the allotment
under this section [A school district that is required to take
action under Chapter 41 to reduce its wealth per student to the
equalized wealth level is entitled to a credit, in the amount of the
allotments to which the district is to receive as provided by
appropriation, against the total amount required under Section
41.093 for the district to purchase attendance credits.
[(e) The commissioner may adopt rules to implement this
section].
SECTION 2. Section 37.108(b-1), Education Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b-1) In a school district's safety and security audit
required under Subsection (b), the district must certify that the
district used the funds provided to the district through the school
safety allotment under Section 48.115 [42.168] only for the
purposes provided by that section.
SECTION 3. To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
over another Act of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021,
relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
codes.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.