88R6434 BDP-F
 
  By: Allison H.B. No. 2009
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to measures for school safety in public schools.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 37.108(f), Education Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         (f)  A school district shall include in its multihazard
  emergency operations plan:
               (1)  a chain of command that designates the individual
  responsible for making final decisions during a disaster or
  emergency situation and identifies other individuals responsible
  for making those decisions if the designated person is unavailable;
               (2)  provisions that address physical and
  psychological safety for responding to a natural disaster, active
  shooter, and any other dangerous scenario identified for purposes
  of this section by the agency or the Texas School Safety Center;
               (3)  provisions for ensuring the safety of students in
  portable buildings;
               (4)  provisions for ensuring that students and district
  personnel with disabilities are provided equal access to safety
  during a disaster or emergency situation;
               (5)  provisions for providing immediate notification
  to parents, guardians, and other persons standing in parental
  relation in circumstances involving a significant threat to the
  health or safety of students, including identification of the
  individual with responsibility for overseeing the notification;
               (6)  provisions for supporting the psychological
  safety of students, district personnel, and the community during
  the response and recovery phase following a disaster or emergency
  situation that:
                     (A)  are aligned with best practice-based
  programs and research-based practices recommended under Section
  38.351;
                     (B)  include strategies for ensuring any required
  professional development training for suicide prevention and
  grief-informed and trauma-informed care is provided to appropriate
  school personnel;
                     (C)  include training on integrating
  psychological safety and suicide prevention strategies into the
  district's plan, such as psychological first aid for schools
  training, from an approved list of recommended training established
  by the commissioner and Texas School Safety Center for:
                           (i)  members of the district's school safety
  and security committee under Section 37.109;
                           (ii)  district school counselors and mental
  health professionals; and
                           (iii)  educators and other district
  personnel as determined by the district;
                     (D)  include strategies and procedures for
  integrating and supporting physical and psychological safety that
  align with the provisions described by Subdivision (2); and
                     (E)  implement trauma-informed policies;
               (7)  a policy for providing a substitute teacher access
  to school campus buildings and materials necessary for the
  substitute teacher to carry out the duties of a district employee
  during an emergency or a mandatory emergency drill; [and]
               (8)  the name of each individual on the district's
  school safety and security committee established under Section
  37.109 and the date of each committee meeting during the preceding
  year; and
               (9)  provisions for reuniting students with their
  parents, guardians, or other persons standing in parental relation
  following a disaster or emergency situation.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 37, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 37.117 to read as follows:
         Sec. 37.117.  MOBILE PANIC ALERT SYSTEM. (a)  Each school
  district and open-enrollment charter school, in consultation with
  local law enforcement agencies, shall implement a mobile panic
  alert system to send emergency alerts to district or school
  emergency services and emergency services agencies, law
  enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments.
         (b)  The mobile panic alert system must: 
               (1)  allow for immediate contact with district or
  school emergency services, emergency services agencies, law
  enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments;
               (2)  ensure real-time coordination between first
  responder agencies;
               (3)  integrate directly with local public safety
  answering point infrastructure to transmit 9-1-1 telephone calls;
  and
               (4)  be capable of activation by mobile telephone. 
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.