BILL ANALYSIS
By: Staples
Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Currently, there are no statutory requirements for public schools to participate in emergency
preparedness drills or training for school teachers and administrators. This legislation is to
ensure the security of children while they are at school.
SB 11 requires each school district, among other requirements, to adopt and implement a
multi-hazard emergency operations plan that provides for: district employee training in
responding to an emergency; mandatory school drills to prepare district students and employees
for responding to an emergency; measures to ensure coordination with local emergency
management agencies, law enforcement, and fire departments in the event of an emergency; at
least one mandatory security audit every three years developed by the Texas School Safety
Center; and required reporting of results from the security audit to the school district board of
trustees.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
SECTION 1 Requires each school district to adopt and implement a multi-hazard
emergency operations plan for use in district schools. Requires the plan to address
mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as recommended by the United States
Department of Homeland Security. Requires the plan to provide for the implementation
of certain procedures and precautionary measures.
This SECTION also requires a school district, at least once every three years, to conduct a security audit of the district's facilities. Requires a district, to the extent possible, to follow
security audit procedures developed by the Texas School Safety Center (center) or
a comparable public or private entity.
It also requires a district to report the results of the security audit conducted under
Subsection (b) to the district's board of trustees.
SECTION 2 provides that the center is advised, rather than governed, by a board of directors composed of certain members.
SECTION 3 Requires the center to conduct for school districts a safety training program that includes assistance in developing a multihazard emergency operations plan for adoption under Section 37.108.
SECTION 4 Requires the center to develop security criteria that school districts may consider in the design of instructional facilities.
SECTION 5 requires the center, rather than the board of directors of the center, to biannually prepare a budget request for submission to the legislature.
SECTION 6 Requires a school district that constructs a new instructional facility or
conducts a major renovation of an existing instructional facility using funds allotted to
the district under this subchapter to consider, in the design of the instructional facility,
security criteria developed by the center under Section 37.2051.
SECTION 7 Requires the center, no later than December 1, 2005, to develop a school safety
program that includes certain requirements and develop certain security criteria.
It also requires each school district, no later than March 1, 2006, to adopt a multi-hazard
emergency operations plan as required by Section 37.108, education Code, as added by
this Act.
EFFECTIVE DATE
This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
Committee Amendment 1
This amendment takes out "as recommended by the United States Department of Homeland Security" and replaces it with "as defined by the Texas School Safety Center in conjunction with the state office of homeland security."
Committee Amendment 2
This amendment adds that the emergency plan must include a system for providing immediate notification to parents or guardians through a variety of communication methods in the event of an emergency.