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Senate Bill 168 |
Senate Author: Blanco et al. |
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Effective: 6-14-21 |
House Sponsor: Ordaz Perez et al. |
Senate Bill 168 amends the Education Code to set out certain requirements for a public school district or open‑enrollment charter school preparing to conduct an active threat exercise, including the following:
· adequate notification of participants and parents, including whether a live simulation of a shooting incident is included;
· announcement of the exercise to students and faculty before the exercise starts;
· notification of first responder organizations that would likely respond in the event of a false report or alarm;
· creation of a safe zone around the exercise area to exclude weapons, subject to certain exceptions;
· ensuring that the content of the exercise is age appropriate and developmentally appropriate and meets certain other standards; and
· tracking of data regarding the efficacy and impact of the exercise and submission of that data to the Texas School Safety Center.
The bill requires the commissioner of education to adopt rules providing best practices for conducting emergency school drills and exercises.