Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2520 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Creighton S.B. No. 2520
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to measures for ensuring safety and security in public
7	7	schools.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Sections 37.1083 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 37.1083. AGENCY MONITORING OF SCHOOL DISTRICT SAFETY
12	12	AND SECURITY REQUIREMENTS. (a) The agency shall monitor the
13	13	implementation and operation of requirements related to school
14	14	district safety and security, including school district:
15	15	(1) multihazard emergency operations plans; and
16	16	(2) safety and security audits.
17	17	(b) The agency shall establish an office of school safety
18	18	and security within the agency to coordinate the agency's
19	19	monitoring of school district safety and security requirements
20	20	under this section. The director of the office is appointed by the
21	21	governor and must report directly to the commissioner.
22	22	(c) The agency shall provide technical assistance to school
23	23	districts to support the implementation and operation of safety and
24	24	security requirements, including the preparation of multihazard
25	25	emergency operations plans and performance of safety and security
26	26	audits.
27	27	(d) The agency may engage or require a school district to
28	28	engage a third party as necessary to enable the agency to monitor
29	29	the implementation and operation of school district safety and
30	30	security requirements under this section.
31	31	(e) The commissioner may take appropriate action under
32	32	Chapter 39A, including the assignment of a conservator or the
33	33	appointment of a board of managers, if a school district fails to:
34	34	(1) submit to the required monitoring under this
35	35	section;
36	36	(2) comply with applicable safety and security
37	37	requirements; or
38	38	(3) address in a reasonable time period, as determined
39	39	by commissioner rule, issues raised by the monitoring of the
40	40	district under this section.
41	41	(f) The agency, or if approved by the agency, the Texas
42	42	School Safety Center, may identify, develop, and make available to
43	43	school districts information to assist districts in the
44	44	implementation and operation of safety and security requirements,
45	45	including relevant:
46	46	(1) guidelines;
47	47	(2) techniques;
48	48	(3) blueprints;
49	49	(4) best practices; and
50	50	(5) procedures.
51	51	(g) The agency, the Texas School Safety Center, and school
52	52	districts may share information described by Subsection (f) with
53	53	one another.
54	54	(h) The agency may require a school district to submit
55	55	information necessary for the agency to monitor the implementation
56	56	and operation of school district safety and security requirements
57	57	under this section, including:
58	58	(1) notice of an event requiring a district's emergency
59	59	response; and
60	60	(2) information regarding the district's response and
61	61	use of emergency operations procedures during an event described by
62	62	Subdivision (1).
63	63	(i) The agency may review school district records as
64	64	necessary to ensure compliance with this subchapter and Subchapter
65	65	G.
66	66	(j) Any document or information collected, identified,
67	67	developed, or produced relating to the monitoring of school
68	68	district safety and security requirements under this section is
69	69	confidential under Sections 418.177 and 418.181, Government Code,
70	70	and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
71	71	(k) The commissioner may adopt rules as necessary to
72	72	administer this section.
73	73	SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
74	74	amended by adding Sections 37.117 to read as follows:
75	75	Sec.37.117. SAFE SCHOOLS UNIVERSAL PLATFORM. (a) In this
76	76	section:
77	77	(1) "Office" means the office of school safety and
78	78	Security established under Section 37.1083.
79	79	(2) "Universal platform" means the safe schools
80	80	Universal platform established under this section.
81	81	(b) The office shall contract with an outside vendor to
82	82	create and maintain a safe schools universal platform to serve as a
83	83	centralized integrated repository and analytics resource for data
84	84	relating to school safety and community welfare.
85	85	(c) The universal platform must be:
86	86	(1) designed to integrate and present data, as
87	87	necessary, from:
88	88	(A) social media and other Internet sources;
89	89	(B) relevant state agencies;
90	90	(C) any tool developed or available for reporting
91	91	suspicious activity; and
92	92	(D) reports and notifications provided by a
93	93	school district or open-enrollment charter school, including:
94	94	(i) incident reports generated after an
95	95	incident affecting school safety; and
96	96	(ii) notifications provided by the district
97	97	or school indicating an upcoming event or incident may cause a
98	98	disruption to the normal operations of the district or school or the
99	99	functions of the surrounding community;
100	100	(2) to the extent possible, capable of integrating
101	101	with existing platforms or technologies used by school districts
102	102	and open-enrollment charter schools for school safety; and
103	103	(3) able to relay information clearly and in real time
104	104	to each person or entity necessary to provide a unified response to
105	105	a safety incident, or to take appropriate action in response to an
106	106	anticipated disruption to the normal functions of the surrounding
107	107	community, including:
108	108	(A) the governor;
109	109	(B) affected school districts and
110	110	open-enrollment charter schools;
111	111	(C) relevant state agencies;
112	112	(D) relevant law enforcement agencies; and
113	113	(E) other first responders.
114	114	(d) A document, information, or data collected for,
115	115	identified on, or published to the universal platform is
116	116	confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
117	117	Government Code.
118	118	(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules as necessary to
119	119	implement this section.
120	120	SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.