Date: 09/09/2015

Final
Discussion of Risk Management and School Safety Management in Other States

SCHOOL SAFETY AND YOUTH IN CRISIS

Votes: View--> Action Taken:
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02:23 PM -- Discussion of Risk Management and School Safety Management in Other States

Josh Cunningham from the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL) introduced himself and distributed a handout (Attachment C). Mr. Cunningham stated that 35 states require schools to have a school safety plan and that 16 states have formed committees to investigate ways to prevent future acts of violence within the school setting. He discussed components of school safety plans and noted that commonalities include directives about standards of conduct, safety drills, and infrastructure requirements. He reviewed legislation in three states: Arkansas, Texas, and Washington. According to Mr. Cunningham, in 2013, Arkansas enacted Senate Bill 093, which required school districts to provide safety training for school personnel and students and reclassified school resource officers as law enforcement. He said that in 2015, they passed legislation that requires schools to have panic buttons that connect to emergency responders and methodology for sharing items like floor plans with first responders. He described the approach undertaken by Texas, which adopted a school marshal program in 2013. Mr. Cunningham described the requirements of a school marshal and a certification program that was adopted to recognize schools for meeting certain safety criteria. Mr. Cunningham said that Washington state also enacted new school safety requirements in 2013, which among other things, call for newly remodeled or constructed school buildings to incorporate specific safety features.

15SchoolSafety0909AttachC.pdf15SchoolSafety0909AttachC.pdf

Mr. Cunningham reviewed reasonable care standards and immunity in the three states and noted that most states do not define this through legislation. He reported that most often school violence cases are settled out of court, but there are some standards defined by case law. Representative Willett asked about waivers of immunity, to which Mr. Cunningham noted that about half of states have general rules of liability, but there are many exceptions in laws and case law has further clarified those exceptions. Representative Moreno asked how many states do not have reasonable duty of care standards. Mr. Cunningham replied that between 30 and 35 states do not have an explicit definition in statute. Ms. Heidi Ganahl asked whether any state specifically defines duty of care within schools, to which Mr. Cunningham replied that he had not been able to define any. Ms. Ganahl asked Mr. Cunningham to forward information about Texas to the committee. Senator Scheffel asked whether NCSL is preparing model state policies concerning this topic, to which Mr. Cunningham replied no.