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.