§ 10-21-1-14 — Safe school committee establishment; school safety plan participation; school policy development

Note: This version of section amended by P.L.214-2025, SEC.6. See
also following version of this section amended by P.L.238-2025,
SEC.44.
Sec. 14. (a) Each school operated by a school
corporation shall establish a safe school committee. Each committee
may include at least one (1) member who is a member of the support
staff of the school or school corporation career and technical education
school.
(b) Each school operated by a charter school shall establish a safe
school committee. A charter school in operation on July 1, 2023, shall
comply with this subsection not later than July 1, 2024.
(c) The safe school committee shall actively participate in and assist
with the development of the school safety plan.
(d) The department of education, the school corporation's or charter
school's school safety specialist or specialists, and a school resource
officer, if one (1) is employed by the school corporation or charter
school, shall provide materials and guidelines to assist a safe school
committee in developing a policy for a particular school that addresses
the following issues:
(1) Implementation of the school safety plan.
(2) Addressing outside and internal threats to the physical safety
of students, faculty, staff, and the public, including unsafe
conditions, crime prevention, school violence, bullying and
cyberbullying, criminal organization activity, child abuse and
child sexual abuse, mental health and behavioral health, suicide
awareness and prevention, violence prevention and training,
situational awareness, and other issues that prevent the
maintenance of a safe school.
(3) Addressing the professional development needs for faculty
and staff to implement methods that decrease problems identified
under subdivision (2).
(4) Identifying and implementing methods to encourage:
(A) involvement by the community, families, and students;
(B) development of relationships between students and school
faculty and staff; and
(C) use of problem solving teams.
(5) Consideration of the effect of armed intruder drills on the
safety and mental health of students, faculty, and staff.
(e) The guidelines developed under subsection (d) must include age
appropriate, trauma informed, evidence based information (as defined
in 34 U.S.C. 10554(4)) that assists school corporations or charter
schools and safe school committees in:
(1) developing and implementing bullying and cyberbullying
prevention programs;
(2) establishing investigation and reporting procedures related to
bullying and cyberbullying; and
(3) adopting discipline rules that comply with IC 20-33-8-13.5.
(f) In addition to developing guidelines under subsection (d), the
department of education shall establish categories of types of bullying
incidents to allow school corporations to use the categories in making
reports under IC 20-20-8-8 and IC 20-34-6-1.
(g) The materials and guidelines provided under subsection (d) must
include the model educational materials and model response policies
and reporting procedures on child abuse and child sexual abuse
developed or identified under IC 20-19-3-11.

Legislative History

As added by P.L.150-2023, SEC.15. Amended by P.L.135-2024, SEC.2; P.L.214-2025, SEC.6.