88R6434 BDP-F
By: Allison H.B. No. 2009
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to measures for school safety in public schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.108(f), Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) A school district shall include in its multihazard
emergency operations plan:
(1) a chain of command that designates the individual
responsible for making final decisions during a disaster or
emergency situation and identifies other individuals responsible
for making those decisions if the designated person is unavailable;
(2) provisions that address physical and
psychological safety for responding to a natural disaster, active
shooter, and any other dangerous scenario identified for purposes
of this section by the agency or the Texas School Safety Center;
(3) provisions for ensuring the safety of students in
portable buildings;
(4) provisions for ensuring that students and district
personnel with disabilities are provided equal access to safety
during a disaster or emergency situation;
(5) provisions for providing immediate notification
to parents, guardians, and other persons standing in parental
relation in circumstances involving a significant threat to the
health or safety of students, including identification of the
individual with responsibility for overseeing the notification;
(6) provisions for supporting the psychological
safety of students, district personnel, and the community during
the response and recovery phase following a disaster or emergency
situation that:
(A) are aligned with best practice-based
programs and research-based practices recommended under Section
38.351;
(B) include strategies for ensuring any required
professional development training for suicide prevention and
grief-informed and trauma-informed care is provided to appropriate
school personnel;
(C) include training on integrating
psychological safety and suicide prevention strategies into the
district's plan, such as psychological first aid for schools
training, from an approved list of recommended training established
by the commissioner and Texas School Safety Center for:
(i) members of the district's school safety
and security committee under Section 37.109;
(ii) district school counselors and mental
health professionals; and
(iii) educators and other district
personnel as determined by the district;
(D) include strategies and procedures for
integrating and supporting physical and psychological safety that
align with the provisions described by Subdivision (2); and
(E) implement trauma-informed policies;
(7) a policy for providing a substitute teacher access
to school campus buildings and materials necessary for the
substitute teacher to carry out the duties of a district employee
during an emergency or a mandatory emergency drill; [and]
(8) the name of each individual on the district's
school safety and security committee established under Section
37.109 and the date of each committee meeting during the preceding
year; and
(9) provisions for reuniting students with their
parents, guardians, or other persons standing in parental relation
following a disaster or emergency situation.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.117 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.117. MOBILE PANIC ALERT SYSTEM. (a) Each school
district and open-enrollment charter school, in consultation with
local law enforcement agencies, shall implement a mobile panic
alert system to send emergency alerts to district or school
emergency services and emergency services agencies, law
enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments.
(b) The mobile panic alert system must:
(1) allow for immediate contact with district or
school emergency services, emergency services agencies, law
enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments;
(2) ensure real-time coordination between first
responder agencies;
(3) integrate directly with local public safety
answering point infrastructure to transmit 9-1-1 telephone calls;
and
(4) be capable of activation by mobile telephone.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.