By: Seliger S.B. No. 1556

(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2013; March 19, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 15, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 15, 2013, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1556 By: Seliger

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of the School Safety Task Force and school safety security criteria.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 418, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 418.0426 to read as follows:

Sec. 418.0426. SCHOOL SAFETY TASK FORCE. (a) The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, or a designee of the chief, the director of the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training Center, or a designee of the director, the director of the Texas School Safety Center, or a designee of the director, and the agency director of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, or a designee of the agency director, shall establish a School Safety Task Force.

(b) The chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, or a designee of the chief, shall serve as the chair of the School Safety Task Force.

(c) The task force shall study best practices for use in school multihazard emergency operations planning in order to make recommendations to the Texas School Safety Center and the governor's office of homeland security.

(d) The task force shall consider input from school safety personnel, first responders, emergency managers, local officials, school districts, educators, nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholders in order to make its recommendations.

(e) The task force shall report its findings, including recommendations for any necessary statutory changes, to the legislature before September 1, 2014, and every subsequent even-numbered year.

SECTION 2. Section 37.2051, Education Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 37.2051. SECURITY CRITERIA FOR SAFETY PLANS [INSTRUCTIONAL FACILITIES]. The center shall develop security criteria that school districts may consider in the design of school safety plans [instructional facilities].

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

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