Bill Text: TX HB3596 | 2015-2016 | 84th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to public school safety and security policies, procedures, and practices.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2015-05-13 - Referred to Education [HB3596 Detail]

Download: Texas-2015-HB3596-Engrossed.html

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84R25701 GCB-F
By: Huberty, Nevárez H.B. No. 3596

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to public school safety and security policies, procedures,
and practices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.108, Education Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(a) Each school district or public junior college district
shall adopt and implement a multihazard emergency operations plan
for use in the district's facilities. The plan must address
mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as defined by the
commissioner of education or commissioner of higher education in
conjunction with the governor's office of homeland security. The
plan must provide for:
(1) district employee training in responding to an
emergency;
(2) if the plan applies to a school district:
(A) [,] mandatory school drills and exercises to
prepare district students and employees for responding to an
emergency;
(B) establishment of memoranda of understanding
and mutual aid agreements with local law enforcement and other
entities with jurisdiction over emergency services provided to
persons residing within the attendance boundaries of the district;
and
(C) the implementation of routine campus safety
and security assessments under Subsection (b-1);
(3) measures to ensure coordination with the
Department of State Health Services and local emergency management
agencies, law enforcement, health departments, and fire
departments in the event of an emergency; and
(4) the implementation of a safety and security audit
as required by Subsection (b).
(b-1) In addition to conducting safety and security audits
under Subsection (b), each school district shall conduct routine
campus safety and security assessments throughout the school year
at intervals set by the Texas School Safety Center.
SECTION 2. Sections 37.1081(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The Texas School Safety Center[, in consultation with
the School Safety Task Force established under Section 37.1082,]
shall implement [develop] a school safety certification program.
(b) The Texas School Safety Center shall award a school
safety certificate to a school district that:
(1) has adopted and implemented a multihazard
emergency operations plan as required under Section 37.108 and that
includes in that plan:
(A) measures for security of facilities and
grounds;
(B) measures for communication with parents and
the media in the event of an emergency; and
(C) an outline of safety training for school
employees;
(2) demonstrates to the center through documentation
[with current written self-audit processes] that the district
conducts at least one drill per year for each of the following types
of drills:
(A) a school lockdown drill;
(B) an evacuation drill;
(C) a weather-related emergency drill;
(D) a reverse evacuation drill; and
(E) a shelter-in-place drill;
(3) addresses circumstances that may be unique to the
region in which the district is located and that affect:
(A) facilities and security; or
(B) the safety of students [is in compliance with
Sections 37.108(b) and (c)]; and
(4) meets any other eligibility criteria [as]
recommended by the former School Safety Task Force.
SECTION 3. Section 37.202, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.202. PURPOSE. The purpose of the center is to serve
as:
(1) a central location for school safety and security
information, including research, training, and technical
assistance related to successful school safety and security
programs;
(2) a central registry of persons providing school
safety and security consulting services in the state; [and]
(3) a resource for the prevention of youth violence
and the promotion of safety in the state; and
(4) a central location for the collection of
information concerning research and best practices for threat
awareness, campus safety and security assessments, and
cross-jurisdictional sharing of information.
SECTION 4. Sections 37.203(a) and (b), Education Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The center is advised by a board of directors composed
of:
(1) the attorney general, or the attorney general's
designee;
(2) the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee;
(3) the executive director of the Texas Juvenile
Justice Department [Probation Commission], or the executive
director's designee;
(4) [the executive commissioner of the Texas Youth
Commission, or the executive commissioner's designee;
[(5)] the commissioner of the Department of State
Health Services, or the commissioner's designee;
(5) [(6)] the commissioner of higher education, or the
commissioner's designee; and
(6) [(7)] the following members appointed by the
governor with the advice and consent of the senate:
(A) a juvenile court judge;
(B) a member of a school district's board of
trustees;
(C) an administrator of a public primary school;
(D) an administrator of a public secondary
school;
(E) a member of the state parent-teacher
association;
(F) a teacher from a public primary or secondary
school;
(G) a public school superintendent who is a
member of the Texas Association of School Administrators;
(H) a school district police officer or a peace
officer whose primary duty consists of working in a public school;
[and]
(I) an individual who has experience and
expertise in information technology security;
(J) a school district employee whose primary duty
consists of managing transportation logistics for a public school
district;
(K) an architect with experience in school
facility design; and
(L) two members of the public who are a parent or
guardian of a public school student.
(b) Members of the board appointed under Subsection (a)(6)
[(a)(7)] serve staggered two-year terms, with the terms of the
members described by Subsections (a)(6)(A)-(F) [(a)(7)(A)-(E)]
expiring on February 1 of each odd-numbered year and the terms of
the members described by Subsections (a)(6)(G)-(L) [(a)(7)(F)-(I)]
expiring on February 1 of each even-numbered year. A member may
serve more than one term.
SECTION 5. Section 37.205, Education Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 37.205. SAFETY TRAINING PROGRAMS. The center shall
conduct for school districts a safety training program that
includes:
(1) development of a positive school environment and
proactive safety measures designed to address local concerns;
(2) school safety courses for law enforcement
officials, with a focus on school district police officers and
school resource officers;
(3) discussion of school safety issues with parents
and community members; [and]
(4) assistance in developing a multihazard emergency
operations plan for adoption under Section 37.108; and
(5) training in best practices for threat awareness,
implementation of campus safety and security assessments, and
cross-jurisdictional sharing of information.
SECTION 6. Section 421.901, Government Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 421.901. INTEROPERABILITY OF CRITICAL INFORMATION
SYSTEMS. The office of the governor shall develop a plan for
appropriate entities to use information systems that:
(1) employ underlying computer equipment and software
required to establish interoperable communication between computer
systems used by local, state, and federal agencies and first
responders; [and]
(2) provide a single point of entry to disseminate
information, applications, processes, and communications;
(3) provide threat awareness information that may
affect campus security and student safety in the Texas-Mexico
border region and is obtained through cross-jurisdictional sharing
of information; and
(4) include school security information that may be
obtained through school district incident reporting, school safety
audits, and campus safety and security assessments.
SECTION 7. Sections 37.1081(c) and 37.1082, Education Code,
are repealed.
SECTION 8. (a) Not later than February 1, 2016, the
governor shall appoint new members to the board of directors of the
Texas School Safety Center as required by Sections
37.203(a)(6)(I)-(K), Education Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Section 37.203, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
does not affect the term of the member appointed under Section
37.203(a)(6)(F), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and
serving on the board immediately before the effective date of this
Act. After the term of that member expires on February 1, 2016, the
governor shall appoint a member who meets the requirements under
Section 37.203(a)(6)(F), Education Code, as amended by this Act, to
a term expiring February 1, 2017.
(c) Section 37.203, Education Code, as amended by this Act,
does not affect the terms of the members appointed under Section
37.203(a)(6)(L), Education Code, as amended by this Act, and
serving on the board immediately before the effective date of this
Act. After the terms of those members expire, the governor shall
appoint members who meet the requirements under Section
37.203(a)(6)(L), Education Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 9. This Act applies beginning with the 2015-2016
school year.
SECTION 10. 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, 2015.