Honorable Frank Corte, Jr., Chair, House Committee on Defense Affairs & State-Federal Relations
FROM:
John S. O'Brien, Deputy Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB11 by Staples (Relating to security in public schools.), As Engrossed
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would require each school district to adopt and implement a multi-hazard emergency operations plan. The bill would require districts to conduct a security audit of facilities at least every three years and report the results of the audit to the district’s board of trustees.
The Texas School Safety Center would provide districts with assistance in developing the emergency operations plan and would be required to develop security criteria that school districts shall consider in the design of instructional facilities, if using funds allotted under this subchapter. There would be an on-going cost to the Center for the development of the guidelines and the assistance provided to school districts; however, no significant fiscal impact is anticipated.
The Center would be required to complete the related provisions of the bill by December 1, 2005. Each school district would be required to adopt an emergency operations plan not later than March 1, 2006.
Local Government Impact
Districts will incur additional non-instructional costs to develop and implement the multi-hazard emergency operations plan and to conduct training and drills as required by the plan; however, these costs would likely be insignificant on a statewide basis.
Every three years, a school district would be required to conduct a security audit of the district’s facilities. Based on an opinion obtained by the Texas Education Agency from a security consultant, a minimal security audit that focuses only on the possible building entrances of a campus would have an average cost in the range of $2,000 to $5,000 per campus. Spread over the three-year cycle, with an average cost of $3,000, costs would be approximately $8.0 million per year. It is possible that school districts could avoid some cash outlays if qualified personnel are available; however, the availability of appropriate staff resources is unlikely in all districts.
Source Agencies:
701 Central Education Agency, 758 Board of Regents, Texas State University System Central Office