BILL ANALYSIS

Senate Research Center	C.S.S.B. 2273
88R26790 DIO-F	By: Kolkhorst
	Education
	5/4/2023
	Committee Report (Substituted)

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

Currently, Section 37.109 of the Texas Education Code requires each school district to establish a school safety and security committee, which must include one or more representatives from the district's police department or local police department or sheriff's office.  The committee is charged with developing emergency plans for the district and is to consult with local law enforcement agencies on methods to increase law enforcement presence near district campuses. 

In rural areas of the state, there are a variety of first responders who may be involved in a response to a school campus safety incident. Currently, there is no requirement that all first responders in rural areas of the state coordinate law enforcement responses to school violence incidents, review chain of command planning or emergency radio interoperability, etc. To improve the coordination and response to school incidents in rural areas, S.B. 2273 directs the county sheriff of a county with a total population of less than 300,000 to conduct meetings twice a year with local first responders to discuss school safety issues and to submit a report about the meetings to the Texas School Safety Center.

Key Provisions:

• Requires the county sheriff of a county with a population of less than 300,000 to conduct a semiannual meeting to discuss school safety, coordinated law enforcement response to school violence incidents, law enforcement agency capabilities, available resources, chain of command planning, and other related subjects proposed by meeting attendees.

• Requires attendance to this meeting by the sheriff or their designee, the police chief of a municipal police department or their designee, each elected county constable or their designees, each police chief of a school district's police department or school district security coordinator from each school district within the county, a representative of the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas assigned to the county, a person appointed to a command staff position at an emergency medical service in the county, a person appointed to a command staff position at a county fire department, and any other person the sheriff deems appropriate.

• Requires the sheriff to submit a report to the School Safety Center identifying the attendees of the meeting and the subjects discussed.

• Requires the Texas School Safety Center to maintain the report and make it publicly available on the center's website.

Committee Substitute Changes:

• Requires the school safety meetings to be closed to the public and clarifies that the information to be posted on the Texas School Safety Center website is to include the attendees of the meeting and compliance with the provisions of the bill.  

C.S.S.B. 2273 amends current law relating to requiring semiannual school safety meetings in certain counties.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter C, Chapter 37, Education Code, by adding Section 37.0833, as follows:

Sec. 37.0833. SCHOOL SAFETY MEETINGS. (a) Requires the sheriff of a county with a total population of less than 300,000 in which a school is located to call and conduct semiannual meetings to discuss:

(1) school safety;

(2) coordinated law enforcement response to school violence incidents;

(3) law enforcement agency capabilities;

(4) available resources;

(5) emergency radio interoperability;

(6) chain of command planning; and

(7) other related subjects proposed by a person in attendance at the meeting.

(b) Requires the following persons to attend a meeting called under Subsection (a):

(1) the sheriff or the sheriff's designee;

(2) the police chief of a municipal police department in the county or the police chief's designee;

(3) each elected constable in the county or the constable's designees;

(4) each police chief of a school district's police department or school district security coordinator from each school district located in the county;

(5) a representative of the Department of Public Safety of the State of Texas assigned to the county;

(6) a person appointed to a command staff position at an emergency medical service in the county;

(7) a person appointed to a command staff position at a municipal emergency medical service in the county;

(8) a person appointed to a command staff position at a fire department in the county; and

(9) any other person the sheriff considers appropriate.

(c) Requires the sheriff, as soon as practicable after a meeting under Subsection (a), to submit a notice to the Texas School Safety Center (center) identifying the attendees of the meeting and a statement of compliance with this provision. Requires the center to publish the notice on the center's Internet website.

(d) Requires a meeting under this section to be conducted as a closed, nonpublic meeting that is not subject to the open meetings law, Chapter 551 (Open Meetings), Government Code.

SECTION 2. Requires the sheriff of a county described by Section 37.0833(a), Education Code, as added by this Act, to call a meeting as provided by that section as soon as practicable after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2023.