By: West, Blanco S.B. No. 1664
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of the school safety technical
advisory committee and the school safety accountability program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 37, Education Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter H to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER H. SCHOOL SAFETY ACCOUNTABILITY PROGRAM
Sec. 37.251. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Advisory committee" means the school safety
technical advisory committee established under Section 37.252.
(2) "Chief of school safety and security" means the
individual appointed by the governor as chief of school safety and
security for the agency.
(3) "Law enforcement leadership officer" means:
(A) the chief of police of a school district
police department;
(B) the chief or deputy chief of police of a
municipality;
(C) a sheriff;
(D) a constable; or
(E) a highway patrol officer:
(i) designated by the public safety
director of the Department of Public Safety; and
(ii) who holds a rank of lieutenant or
higher.
(4) "Program" means the school safety accountability
program established under this subchapter.
(5) "School exterior" means the outer walls, doors,
and windows of a school district or open-enrollment charter school
facility.
(6) "School guardian" means a person who, pursuant to
the written regulations or written authorization of a school
district or open-enrollment charter school under Section
46.03(a)(1)(A), Penal Code, is authorized to carry or possess a
specified weapon for the purpose of providing safety and security
on the physical premises of a school, any grounds or building on
which an activity sponsored by a school is being conducted, or a
passenger transportation vehicle of a school.
(7) "School interior" means the area inside of a
school district or open-enrollment charter school facility's outer
walls, including the facility's interior doors.
(8) "School perimeter" means the boundaries of the
real property or site on which a school district or open-enrollment
charter school campus is located.
(9) "School safety rating" means a school safety
accountability rating assigned under Section 37.257 to a school
district or open-enrollment charter school campus based on the
campus's school safety score.
(10) "School safety score" means the numeric school
safety score assigned to a school district or open-enrollment
charter school campus under Section 37.254.
Sec. 37.252. SCHOOL SAFETY TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) The agency shall establish the school safety technical
advisory committee to advise the agency regarding the school safety
accountability program established under this subchapter. The
committee is composed of:
(1) the following six members, with the governor, the
lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the house of
representatives each appointing two members chosen from among the
following three categories:
(A) public school superintendents;
(B) law enforcement leadership officers; and
(C) persons serving in a school safety leadership
capacity other than as a law enforcement leadership officer; and
(2) four additional members appointed by the
commissioner, including, from either a school district or
open-enrollment charter school, at least one member who is a
teacher, at least one principal of an elementary school campus, and
at least one principal of a high school campus.
(b) An individual may not be appointed under Subsection (a)
to serve on the committee as a law enforcement leadership officer
unless the individual has completed the initial training program
required by police chiefs under Section 96.641 and any continuing
education required for police chiefs under that section.
(c) A committee member serves a two-year term and may be
reappointed.
Sec. 37.253. ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM. (a) The agency
shall establish a school safety accountability program to ensure
school district and open-enrollment charter school campuses
provide safe and secure environments.
(b) The chief of school safety and security shall oversee
and administer the program.
(c) The chief of school safety and security may lower a
school district's or open-enrollment charter school's school safety
score or school safety rating on a determination that the
district's or school's score as reported under Section 37.254 is
substantially inaccurate. A decision by the chief of school safety
and security under this subsection is final and not subject to
appeal.
Sec. 37.254. SCHOOL SAFETY SCORE. (a) Not later than
January 30 of each year, the agency shall assign each school
district and open-enrollment charter school campus a school safety
score. The school safety score must be:
(1) a number between zero and 100, with 100
representing a perfect score; and
(2) based on an audit of campus school safety
conducted by the district or school applying the metrics of
assessment developed under Section 37.255.
(b) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
shall annually conduct an audit of the safety of each campus of the
district or school applying the metrics of assessment developed
under Section 37.255 to assign a school safety score to each campus.
The district or school shall submit the campus school safety score
assigned for each campus under this subsection to the agency in the
manner and form required by the commissioner.
(c) The agency shall keep confidential each campus school
safety score assigned to a school campus under this section,
including the application of each metric to that campus used in
determining the score.
Sec. 37.255. METRICS OF ASSESSMENT. (a) The agency, in
consultation with the advisory committee, the Texas School Safety
Center, the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center
at Texas State University--San Marcos, and other appropriate
stakeholders designated by the commissioner, shall develop
criteria for metrics of assessment to be applied in calculating a
school safety score under Section 37.254 for each school district
and open-enrollment charter school campus.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), the metrics of
assessment must, with respect to each school district and
open-enrollment charter school campus:
(1) evaluate separately each school perimeter,
exterior, and interior at the district or school; and
(2) include metrics for evaluating:
(A) whether all classroom and exterior doors
lock;
(B) the type and location of exterior cameras
installed at the campus;
(C) the type and location of interior cameras
installed at the campus;
(D) the features of any school safety Internet
application used by the school, including if:
(i) a school lockdown or threat
automatically triggers the application to call or make a digital
directive announcement to the local 9-1-1 emergency call center;
(ii) the application integrates with
information reported through the Public Education Information
Management System (PEIMS); or
(iii) the application integrates with the
health information of school staff and students as necessary for
providing effective emergency medical treatment following a
disaster or emergency situation, including a staff member's or
student's blood type, medication allergies, and significant
diseases or health conditions;
(E) the frequency and type of active shooter and
other disaster drills;
(F) the security of exterior gates and fencing;
(G) the ease of access to the campus for an
intruder;
(H) safety procedures for student pick-up and
drop-off at the campus;
(I) the safety of campus parking lots used by
visitors and faculty;
(J) severe weather and disaster alerts and
preparedness;
(K) the availability of devices allowing for
two-way communication between campus administrators or campus
police, if applicable, and each classroom;
(L) the safety and storage of firearms at each
campus;
(M) the provision of security services at each
campus for which a school marshal is appointed or at which a school
guardian is authorized;
(N) for a campus at which a school resource
officer is assigned, coverage of school resource officers;
(O) for a campus at which peace officers
commissioned and employed by the district or school provide
services, data related to commissioned district or school peace
officers, including demographic information and information
concerning training and experience;
(P) information regarding the campus reported to
the agency under Section 38.0141; and
(Q) any other safety criteria required by the
agency.
(c) In developing criteria for the metrics of assessment
under Subsection (a), the agency shall account for differences
among school district and open-enrollment charter school campuses,
including by differentiating how metrics evaluated under
Subsection (b)(2) are applied among campuses that:
(1) are located in rural, urban, or suburban areas;
(2) have older or more recently constructed
facilities; and
(3) have or do not have student populations in which at
least 40 percent of the students are:
(A) educationally disadvantaged; or
(B) students at risk of dropping out of school,
as defined by Section 29.081(d).
(d) In developing criteria for metrics of assessment under
Subsection (a), the agency shall prioritize harmonizing the
criteria and metrics adopted for purposes of this section with any
related school safety and security requirements adopted under S.B.
11, Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023. The
commissioner may waive the requirement of applying a metric
otherwise required in conducting a school safety audit under
Subsection (b) to the extent necessary for purposes of harmonizing
school safety and security requirements applied to school districts
and open-enrollment charter schools under this code.
Sec. 37.256. SCHOOL SAFETY MOBILE INTERNET APPLICATION
REQUIREMENTS. If a school district or open-enrollment charter
school provides a school safety mobile Internet application, the
application:
(1) must comply with the Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. Section 1320d et seq.) and
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C.
Section 1232g); and
(2) may only contain health information voluntarily
provided for integration in the application:
(A) for a student, by the student's parent or
guardian; or
(B) by an educator or other campus staff.
Sec. 37.257. SCHOOL SAFETY RATING. (a) The agency, with
input from the advisory committee, shall adopt a method for
converting a school safety score assigned under Section 37.254 to a
school safety rating for purposes of this section.
(b) Not later than January 30 of each year, the agency shall
assign each school district and open-enrollment charter school
campus, based on that campus's self-reported school safety score, a
preliminary school safety rating of:
(1) meets standards; or
(2) does not meet standards.
(c) Not later than March 1, the agency shall assign a final
school safety rating of "meets standards" or "does not meet
standards" to each school district and open-enrollment charter
school campus, except a campus implementing a remediation plan
under a deadline established by Section 37.258(e).
Sec. 37.258. CAMPUS REMEDIATION PLAN. (a) The principal of
a school district or open-enrollment charter school campus assigned
a preliminary school safety rating under Section 37.257 of "does
not meet standards" shall prepare a campus remediation plan.
(b) A campus remediation plan must:
(1) specifically address improvements to school
safety to be made at the campus prior to the beginning of the
following school year;
(2) for a school district campus, be prepared in
coordination with the board of trustees of the district;
(3) specify a process for implementing the plan;
(4) be approved by the board of trustees of the school
district or the governing body of the open-enrollment charter
school in which the campus is located, as applicable; and
(5) be submitted to the agency not later than the 45th
day after the date on which the preliminary school safety rating was
assigned.
(c) The chief of school safety and security shall evaluate
each campus remediation plan submitted under Subsection (b). If
the chief of school safety and security determines that a plan is
sufficient, the chief of school safety and security shall revise
the school safety rating assigned to the campus to the rating of
"meets standards."
(d) The agency shall notify the principal of the campus
whether the remediation plan is sufficient for the campus to be
assigned a revised school safety rating of "meets standards."
(e) After a remediation plan is determined to be sufficient
under this section, the advisory committee shall establish a
deadline by which the principal of a school district or
open-enrollment charter school must submit to the board of trustees
of the district or governing board of the school, as applicable,
documentation showing that the campus has implemented the
remediation plan.
(f) The chief of school safety and security has the sole
authority to revise a school safety rating under this section.
(g) Except as provided by this subsection and Subsections
(h) and (i), the agency and a school district or open-enrollment
charter school required to prepare a remediation plan shall keep
that requirement, the remediation plan, and the implementation
process for the plan confidential. The district or school may
disclose information related to a remediation plan prepared under
this section only as necessary for purposes of preparing and
implementing the remediation plan and only to school personnel, who
must keep the disclosed information confidential.
(h) Following the implementation of a remediation plan by
the deadline established under Subsection (e), a school district or
open-enrollment charter school may provide a written notice that
the district or school was required to prepare a remediation plan
under this section and has completed implementation of that plan to
district or school employees and parents of or persons standing in
parental relation to students enrolled in the district or school.
(i) The chief of school safety and security may publicly
disclose that a school district or open-enrollment charter school
has been assigned a final school safety rating of "does not meet
standards" only if the chief determines by a preponderance of the
evidence that the district or school, after receiving a preliminary
school safety rating of "does not meet standards," is able but has
refused to prepare or implement a remediation plan adequate to
receive a revised school safety rating of "meets standards" under
this section.
Sec. 37.259. CONFIDENTIALITY FROM PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. The
following information produced under this subchapter is
confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
Government Code:
(1) a school safety score, including data collected or
an audit report prepared by or in connection with determining or
assigning the school safety score;
(2) a preliminary school safety rating assigned under
Section 37.257; and
(3) a campus remediation plan prepared by a school
district or open-enrollment charter school under Section 37.258.
Sec. 37.260. RULES; DEADLINES. (a) The commissioner shall
adopt rules necessary to implement this subchapter, including rules
regarding requirements for further remediation by a school district
or open-enrollment charter school campus that submits a remediation
plan that is determined to be insufficient for purposes of Section
37.258.
(b) The commissioner may extend or modify a timeline or
deadline established by this subchapter.
Sec. 37.261. TEXAS SCHOOL SAFETY REPORT CARD. (a) Not
later than August 15 of each year, the agency shall publish on the
agency's Internet website the school safety report card, which
consists of a list of the most recently assigned final school safety
ratings under Section 37.257 for each school district and
open-enrollment charter school campus in the state, unless
disclosure of a campus's rating is prohibited under this
subchapter.
(b) Each school district and open-enrollment charter school
shall annually provide either a copy of the school safety report
card or a link to the report card on the agency's Internet website
to each parent, guardian, or person standing in parental relation
to a student in the district or school.
SECTION 2. (a) Not later than October 1, 2023, the
commissioner of education shall establish the school safety
technical advisory committee required under Section 37.252,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Not later than January 30, 2026, the Texas Education
Agency shall assign each school district and open-enrollment
charter school campus:
(1) a school safety score under Section 37.254,
Education Code, as added by this Act; and
(2) a school safety rating under Section 37.257,
Education Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 3. 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, 2023.