By: Metcalf (Senate Sponsor - Paxton) H.B. No. 3597
         (In the Senate - Received from the House May 10, 2021;
  May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on
  Education; May 24, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
  Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0;
  May 24, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3597 By:  Paxton
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to policies, procedures, and measures for school safety in
  public schools.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Sections 37.108(c-2) and (d), Education Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (c-2)  A document relating to a school district's or public
  junior college district's multihazard emergency operations plan is
  subject to disclosure if the document enables a person to:
               (1)  verify that the district has established a plan
  and determine the agencies involved in the development of the plan
  and the agencies coordinating with the district to respond to an
  emergency, including the Department of State Health Services, local
  emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies, health
  departments, and fire departments;
               (2)  verify that the district's plan was reviewed
  within the last 12 months and determine the specific review dates;
               (3)  verify that the plan addresses the five [four]
  phases of emergency management under Subsection (a);
               (4)  verify that district employees have been trained
  to respond to an emergency and determine the types of training, the
  number of employees trained, and the person conducting the
  training;
               (5)  verify that each campus in the district has
  conducted mandatory emergency drills and exercises in accordance
  with the plan and determine the frequency of the drills;
               (6)  if the district is a school district, verify that
  the district has established a plan for responding to a train
  derailment if required under Subsection (d);
               (7)  verify that the district has completed a safety
  and security audit under Subsection (b) and determine the date the
  audit was conducted, the person conducting the audit, and the date
  the district presented the results of the audit to the district's
  board of trustees;
               (8)  verify that the district has addressed any
  recommendations by the district's board of trustees for improvement
  of the plan and determine the district's progress within the last 12
  months; and
               (9)  if the district is a school district, verify that
  the district has established a visitor policy and identify the
  provisions governing access to a district building or other
  district property.
         (d)  A school district shall include in its multihazard
  emergency operations plan a policy for responding to a train
  derailment near a district school. A school district is only
  required to adopt the policy described by this subsection if a
  [district] school district facility is located within 1,000 yards
  of a railroad track, as measured from any point on the school's real
  property boundary line. The school district may use any available
  community resources in developing the policy described by this
  subsection.
         SECTION 2.  Section 37.114, Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 37.114.  EMERGENCY EVACUATIONS; MANDATORY SCHOOL
  DRILLS. The commissioner, in consultation with the Texas School
  Safety Center and the state fire marshal, shall adopt rules:
               (1)  providing procedures for evacuating and securing
  school property during an emergency; and
               (2)  designating the number and type of mandatory
  school drills to be conducted each semester of the school year, not
  to exceed a total of eight drills[, including designating the
  number of:
                     [(A)  evacuation fire exit drills; and
                     [(B)  lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place, and
  evacuation drills].
         SECTION 3.  Section 37.115(d), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (d)  The superintendent of the district shall ensure, to the
  greatest extent practicable, that the members appointed to each
  team have expertise in counseling, behavior management, mental
  health and substance use, classroom instruction, special
  education, school administration, school safety and security,
  emergency management, and law enforcement. A team may serve more
  than one campus of a school district, provided that each district
  campus is assigned a team.
         SECTION 4.  Section 37.207(e), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (e)  If three [six] months after the date of the initial
  notification required by Subsection (d) the district has still not
  reported the results of its audit to the center, the center shall
  notify the agency and the district of the district's requirement to
  conduct a public hearing under Section 37.1081. This subsection
  applies only to a school district.
         SECTION 5.  Section 37.2121, Education Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
  follows:
         (d)  Each school district that enters into a memorandum of
  understanding or mutual aid agreement addressing issues that affect
  school safety and security shall, at the center's request, provide
  a copy of the memorandum or agreement [following information] to
  the center[:
               [(1)  the name of each entity with which the school
  district has entered into a memorandum of understanding or mutual
  aid agreement;
               [(2)  the effective date of each memorandum or
  agreement; and
               [(3)  a summary of each memorandum or agreement].
         (d-1)  A copy of a memorandum of understanding or mutual aid
  agreement provided to the center under Subsection (d) is
  confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552,
  Government Code.
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter F, Chapter 411, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 411.14055 to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.14055.  ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
  INFORMATION: TEXAS SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER.  The Texas School Safety
  Center at Texas State University is entitled to obtain from the
  department criminal history record information maintained by the
  department that relates to a person who is registering with the
  Texas School Safety Center to provide school safety or security
  consulting services under Section 37.2091, Education Code.
         SECTION 7.  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, 2021.
 
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