Bill Text: NJ S2815 | 2022-2023 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to institute policies to improve emergency communications to increase school security.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-06-09 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2815 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2022-S2815-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator STEVEN V. OROHO
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Senator DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR.
District 13 (Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Testa
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to institute policies to improve emergency communications to increase school security.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning school security and supplementing chapter 41 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A school district shall provide to all persons employed or assigned by the school district to school security positions, a two-way radio for communicating directly with emergency responders. The two-way radio shall be capable of having a dedicated channel separate from the regular operational police frequencies.
2. A school district shall develop procedures to notify parents, and such other persons as deemed appropriate by the school district, of school emergency situations through multiple communication platforms including, but not limited to, telephone calls, text messages, and mass email.
3. A school district shall test the functionality of all of its emergency communication systems, including strength of signals and calls to a 9-1-1 emergency telephone system and to emergency responders' radios within the school, on at least a monthly basis.
4. The Commissioner of Education shall develop strategies to:
a. Encourage school districts to review and update their school safety and security plans to ensure that they clearly identify who is responsible for contacting the primary emergency response agency in the event of any emergency and that they employ plain language to notify the school population that an emergency condition exists;
b. Encourage school districts to implement measures to ensure that all teachers and other school employees have the ability to communicate with the school administration while school is in session. The means of communication may be in the form of classroom telephones, portable radios, intercom systems, cell phones, or other such means as determined by the school district; and
c. Encourage the use of new technologies to allow communication among all essential personnel during school emergencies. The commissioner shall review the viability of various technologies to enhance safety, including camera feeds of school facilities directly to police patrol cars; panic buttons in schools that are a direct line to the local police department; and dedicated school emergency frequencies for walkie-talkies.
5. This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
The bill requires each school district to:
· provide all persons employed or assigned to school security positions with a two-way radio for communicating directly with emergency responders;
· develop procedures to notify parents and other appropriate persons of school emergency situations through multiple communication platforms, such as telephone calls, text messages, and mass email; and
· test the functionality of all of its emergency communication systems on at least a monthly basis.
The bill also requires the Commissioner of Education to develop strategies to encourage:
· school districts to review and update their existing school safety and security plans to ensure that they clearly identify who is responsible for contacting the primary emergency response agency in the event of any emergency and that they employ plain language to notify the school population that an emergency condition exists;
· school districts to implement measures to ensure that all teachers and other school employees have the ability to communicate with the school administration while school is in session. The means of communication may be in the form of classroom telephones, portable radios, intercom systems, cell phones, or other such means as determined by the school district; and
· the use of new technologies to allow communication among all essential personnel during school emergencies.
