By: Lozano H.B. No. 2069
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to minimum standards for entry safety point protocols and
infrastructure for school districts and charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter G, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.2072 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.2072. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR SCHOOL ENTRY POINT
PROTOCOLS AND INFRASTRUCTURE. (a) The center shall develop
minimum standards for reducing and securing school entry points in
order to ensure that the security standards for instructional
facilities and other school district and charter school facilities
provide for a safe environment.
(b) The minimum standards for reducing entry points
developed pursuant to Subsection (a) shall include:
(1) determining the minimum number of open entry
points required to allow for efficient ingress of students and
faculty for the start of a school day and limiting the number of
open entry points to that minimum;
(2) further reducing the total number of open entry
points to the greatest extent possible once the initial entry of
students and faculty for the start of a school day has been
completed;
(3) securing all other points of access so as to not
allow entry while still allowing students and faculty to exit in the
event of an emergency; and
(4) remotely monitoring other points of access by use
of access controls, camera systems, or other devices determined by
the school district or charter school to be effective and feasible.
(c) The minimum standards for securing entry points
developed pursuant to Subsection (a) shall be divided into four
levels based upon the specific needs and available resources of a
school district or charter school. The levels shall be delineated
as follows:
(1) Level One shall provide for visual surveillance of
the entry point by school security personnel or school staff to
monitor for unusual behavior while applying questioning,
individual searches, and bag checks when deemed warranted;
(2) Level Two shall include all of the practices
described in Level One, as well as performing random checks of
entrants by school security personnel or school staff utilizing
handheld metal detectors;
(3) Level Three shall include establishing security
screening during which entrants and their belongings would be
randomly screened by walk through metal detectors, as well as
applying all of the practices described in Level One and using
handheld metal detectors for secondary screening; and
(4) Level Four shall entail comprehensive security
screening of all entrants and their belongings, including applying
all of the practices described in Level One; screening all entrants
through the use of walk through metal detectors; using handheld
metal detectors for secondary screening; conducting bag checks in
only those instances in which the alarm in the walk through metal
detector sounds; and instructing entrants to use low metal content
backpacks and school supplies to mitigate the alarms and maintain
efficient ingress.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.