Bill Text: VA HB2770 | 2025 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Virginia School Safety Preparedness Fund and Program; created and established, report.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-28 - Subcommittee recommends laying on the table (5-Y 3-N) [HB2770 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2025-HB2770-Comm_Sub.html
| OFFERED FOR CONSIDERATION | 1/28/2025 |
HOUSE BILL NO. 2770
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the House Committee on Education
on ________________)
(Patron Prior to Substitute—Delegate Garrett)
A BILL to amend § 9.1-184 of the Code of Virginia, relating to Virginia School Safety Preparedness Grant Fund and Program established.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 9.1-184 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 9.1-184. Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety created; duties.
A. From such funds as may be appropriated, the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (the Center) is hereby established within the Department. The Center shall:
1. Provide training for Virginia public school personnel in school safety, on evidence-based antibullying tactics based on the definition of bullying in § 22.1-276.01, and in the effective identification of students who may be at risk for violent behavior and in need of special services or assistance;
2. Serve as a resource and referral center for Virginia school divisions by conducting research, sponsoring workshops, and providing information regarding current school safety concerns, such as conflict management and peer mediation, bullying as defined in § 22.1-276.01, school facility design and technology, current state and federal statutory and regulatory school safety requirements, and legal and constitutional issues regarding school safety and individual rights;
3. Maintain and disseminate information to local school divisions on effective school safety initiatives in Virginia and across the nation;
4. Develop a case management tool for the collection and reporting of data by threat assessment teams pursuant to § 22.1-79.4;
5. Collect, analyze, and disseminate various Virginia school safety data, including school safety audit information submitted to it pursuant to § 22.1-279.8, collected by the Department and, in conjunction with the Department of Education, information relating to the activities of school resource officers submitted pursuant to § 22.1-279.10;
6. Encourage the development of partnerships between the public and private sectors to promote school safety in Virginia;
7. Provide technical assistance to Virginia school divisions in the development and implementation of initiatives promoting school safety, including threat assessment-based protocols with such funds as may be available for such purpose;
8. Develop a memorandum of understanding between the Director of the Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to ensure collaboration and coordination of roles and responsibilities in areas of mutual concern, such as school safety audits and crime prevention;
9. Provide training for and certification of school security officers, as defined in § 9.1-101 and consistent with § 9.1-110;
10. Develop, in conjunction with the Department of State Police, the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and the Department of Education, a model critical incident response training program for public school personnel and others providing services to schools that shall also be made available to private schools in the Commonwealth;
11. In consultation with the Department of Education, provide schools with a model policy for the establishment of threat assessment teams, including procedures for the assessment of and intervention with students whose behavior poses a threat to the safety of school staff or students;
12. Develop a model memorandum of understanding setting forth the respective roles and responsibilities of local school boards and local law-enforcement agencies regarding the use of school resource officers. Such model memorandum of understanding may be used by local school boards and local law-enforcement agencies to satisfy the requirements of subsection A of § 22.1-280.2:3; and
13. Designate an employee of the Center as the school personnel safety official for the Commonwealth whose duty is to compile, maintain, and make publicly available a list of each division safety official designated and the contact information for such individual included in each collated packet of school safety audits received pursuant to subsection B of § 22.1-279.8. Such school personnel safety official for the Commonwealth shall at least annually confirm with each division superintendent that such contact information is up to date and accurate.
B. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to be known as the Virginia School Safety Preparedness Grant Fund, referred to in this section as "the Fund." The Fund shall be established on the books of the Comptroller. All funds appropriated for such purpose and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on its behalf shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund. Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of (i) awarding grants to schools meeting the grant criteria established by the Center through the Virginia School Safety Preparedness Grant Program (the Program) established pursuant to subsection C or (ii) implementing and administering the Fund and Program. Moneys used for implementing and administering the Fund and Program shall be limited to 70 percent of the amount available in the Fund each year. Expenditures and disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Director.
C. The Virginia School Safety Preparedness Grant Program is hereby established for the purpose of awarding grants based on criteria established by the Department from such funds as may be available from the Fund to schools in the Commonwealth consisting of any grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade that seek to implement best practices for extreme-trauma injuries. Such training shall include triage of injured individuals and immediate treatment appropriate for singular to mass casualty events. Training should cover the care of people, including children, suffering from bleeding, massive hemorrhaging, and penetrating chest wounds. Grants may be awarded for the expenses related to the equipment necessary to implement nationally recognized life-saving trauma care programs.
The Department may expend annually up to five percent of the Fund for the training of the school division personnel in nationally recognized life-saving trauma care programs.
Funds may be used for equipment for treating trauma related injuries, including training equipment for staff and students. Such equipment may include gloves and other protective equipment, tourniquets, compression bandages, chest seals, trauma sheers, gauze, cravats, hemostatic agents, blankets, materials for improvised care, and kits, cases, and containers and mounting of gear in pre-planned locations.
In administering the Program, the Department shall establish and publish guidelines and criteria for grant awards, including guidelines and criteria relating to the implementation of training programs on the subject of extreme-trauma medical-training. The Department shall provide an annual report detailing each grant awarded through the Program.
D. Schools which meet the requirements set forth by the Department to receive funds under the program shall receive an allocation of funds for an approved training program for staff and faculty and for pre-packaged medical equipment offered by the program for placement at key locations around the school.
E. The Department shall submit an annual report to the General Assembly regarding administration of the Fund and Program for the preceding fiscal year. The report shall include the number of grants awarded, the number of trainings conducted, the number and type of medical equipment supplies purchased, and the total number of participating schools.
F. All agencies of the Commonwealth shall cooperate with the Center and, upon request, assist the Center in the performance of its duties and responsibilities.
