§ 2801-A — School safety plans

New York § 2801-A

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law EDN: Education
• Title 2: School District Organization
• Art. 55: Regulation By Boards of Education of Conduct On School District Property

Text

§ 2801-a. School safety plans. 1. The board of education or trustees,\nas defined in section two of this chapter, of every school district\nwithin the state, however created, and every board of cooperative\neducational services and county vocational education and extension board\nand the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New York\nshall adopt and amend a comprehensive district-wide school safety plan\nand building-level emergency response plans regarding crisis\nintervention, emergency response and management, provided that in the\ncity school district of the city of New York, such plans shall be\nadopted by the chancellor of the city school district. Such plans shall\nbe developed by a district-wide school safety team and a building-level\nemergency response team established pursuant to subdivision four of this\nsection and shall be in a form developed by the commissioner in\nconsultation with the division of criminal justice services, the\nsuperintendent of the state police and any other appropriate state\nagencies. The commissioner, in consultation with the superintendent of\nthe state police, is authorized to develop an appeals process from\nduplicative requirements of a district-wide school safety plan for\nschool districts having only one school building.\n 2. Such comprehensive district-wide safety plan shall be developed by\nthe district-wide school safety team and shall include at a minimum:\n a. policies and procedures for responding to implied or direct threats\nof violence by students, teachers, other school personnel including bus\ndrivers and monitors, as well as visitors to the school, including\nthreats by students against themselves, which for the purposes of this\nsection shall include suicide;\n b. policies and procedures for responding to acts of violence by\nstudents, teachers, other school personnel including bus drivers and\nmonitors, as well as visitors to the school, including consideration of\nzero-tolerance policies for school violence;\n c. appropriate prevention and intervention strategies such as:\n (i) collaborative arrangements with state and local law enforcement\nofficials, designed to ensure that school safety officers and other\nsecurity personnel are adequately trained, including being trained to\nde-escalate potentially violent situations, and are effectively and\nfairly recruited;\n (ii) non-violent conflict resolution training programs;\n (iii) peer mediation programs and youth courts; and\n (iv) extended day and other school safety programs;\n d. policies and procedures for contacting appropriate law enforcement\nofficials in the event of a violent incident;\n e. policies and procedures for contacting parents, guardians or\npersons in parental relation to the students of the district in the\nevent of a violent incident and policies and procedures for contacting\nparents, guardians or persons in parental relation to an individual\nstudent of the district in the event of an implied or direct threat of\nviolence by such student against themselves, which for purposes of this\nsection shall include suicide;\n f. policies and procedures relating to school building security,\nincluding where appropriate the use of school safety officers and/or\nsecurity devices or procedures. District-wide school safety teams shall\nconsider, as part of its reviews of the comprehensive district-wide\nsafety plan, the installation of a panic alarm system. For purposes of\nthis paragraph, "panic alarm system" shall mean a silent security system\nsignal generated by the manual activation of a device intended to signal\na life-threatening or emergency situation requiring a response from\nlocal law enforcement or, in the case of a school building located in a\nmunicipality in which there is no municipal police department, a\nlocation designated by the superintendent of state police and may\ninclude one or more of the following: wired panic button or buttons,\nwireless panic button or buttons or a mobile or computer application;\n g. policies and procedures for the dissemination of informative\nmaterials regarding the early detection of potentially violent\nbehaviors, including but not limited to the identification of family,\ncommunity and environmental factors, to teachers, administrators, school\npersonnel including bus drivers and monitors, persons in parental\nrelation to students of the district, students and other persons deemed\nappropriate to receive such information;\n h. policies and procedures for annual school safety training for staff\nand students; provided that the district must certify to the\ncommissioner that all staff have undergone annual training on the\nemergency response plan, and that the school safety training include\ncomponents on violence prevention, mental health and sudden cardiac\narrest, such training may be implemented and conducted in conjunction\nwith existing professional development and training; provided however\nthat new employees hired after the start of the school year shall\nreceive training within thirty days of such hire or as part of a\ndistrict's existing new hire training program, whichever is sooner;\n i. protocols for responding to bomb threats, hostage-takings,\nintrusions and kidnappings;\n j. strategies for improving communication among students and between\nstudents and staff and reporting of potentially violent incidents, such\nas the establishment of youth-run programs, peer mediation, conflict\nresolution, creating a forum or designating a mentor for students\nconcerned with bullying or violence and establishing anonymous reporting\nmechanisms for school violence;\n k. a description of the duties of hall monitors and any other school\nsafety personnel, the training required of all personnel acting in a\nschool security capacity, and the hiring and screening process for all\npersonnel acting in a school security capacity;\n l. the designation of the superintendent, or superintendent's\ndesignee, as the district chief emergency officer responsible for\ncoordinating communication between school staff and law enforcement and\nfirst responders, and ensuring staff understanding of the district-level\nsafety plan. The chief emergency officer shall also be responsible for\nensuring the completion and yearly updating of building-level emergency\nresponse plans;\n m. protocols for responding to a declared state disaster emergency\ninvolving a communicable disease that are substantially consistent with\nthe provisions of section twenty-seven-c of the labor law; and\n n. policies and procedures relating to sudden cardiac arrest. The\ndistrict-wide school safety team shall develop and implement a cardiac\nemergency response plan that addresses the use of appropriate personnel\nto respond to incidents involving any individual experiencing sudden\ncardiac arrest or similar life-threatening emergency on any school site\nowned or operated by a school or at a location of a school sponsored\nevent, including but not limited to all athletic programs. Such plan\nshall be a written document and shall include specific procedures for\nincidents involving an individual experiencing sudden cardiac arrest or\na similar life-threatening emergency while attending or participating in\nan athletic practice or event while on school grounds that are venue\nspecific. Each plan shall integrate nationally recognized,\nevidence-based core elements, such as those recommended by the American\nHeart Association. School officials shall consider how to best integrate\ntheir cardiac emergency response plan into community EMS responder\nprotocols. The district-wide school safety team may provide first aid,\nCPR, and AED training for relevant staff, including members of\nbuilding-level emergency response teams provided for in subdivision four\nof this section, provided that such training shall be voluntary.\n 3. A building level emergency response plan, developed by the\nbuilding-level emergency response team defined in subdivision four of\nthis section, shall be kept confidential, including but not limited to\nthe floor plans, blueprints, schematics or other maps of the school\ninterior, school grounds and road maps of the immediate surrounding\narea, and shall not be disclosed except to authorized department or\nschool staff, and law enforcement officers, and shall include the\nfollowing elements:\n a. policies and procedures for response to emergency situations, such\nas those requiring evacuation, sheltering, lock-down, and sudden cardiac\narrest. These policies shall include, at a minimum, evacuation routes,\nshelter sites, and procedures for addressing medical needs,\ntransportation and emergency notification of parents and guardians;\n b. designation of an emergency response team comprised of school\npersonnel, law enforcement officials, fire officials and representatives\nfrom local regional and/or state emergency response agencies, other\nappropriate incident response teams, and a post-incident response team\nthat includes appropriate school personnel, medical personnel, mental\nhealth counselors and others who can assist the school community in\ncoping with the aftermath of a violent incident;\n c. floor plans, blueprints, schematics or other maps of the school\ninterior, school grounds and road maps of the immediate surrounding\narea;\n d. establishment of internal and external communication systems in\nemergencies which may include the installation of a panic alarm system;\n e. definition of the chain of command in a manner consistent with the\nnational interagency incident management system/incident command system;\n f. coordination of the emergency response plan with the state-wide\nplan for disaster mental health services to assure that the school has\naccess to federal, state and local mental health resources in the event\nof a violent incident;\n g. procedures for review and the conduct of drills and other exercises\nto test components of the emergency response plan; and\n h. policies and procedures for securing and restricting access to the\ncrime scene in order to preserve evidence in cases of violent crimes on\nschool property.\n 4. Each district-wide school safety team shall be appointed by the\nboard of education, or the chancellor in the case of the city school\ndistrict of the city of New York, and shall include but not be limited\nto representatives of the school board, teacher, administrator, and\nparent organizations, school safety personnel, and other school\npersonnel including bus drivers and monitors. At the discretion of the\nboard of education, or the chancellor in the case of the city of New\nYork, a student may be allowed to participate on the safety team,\nprovided however, that no portion of a confidential building-level\nemergency response plan shall be shared with such student nor shall such\nstudent be present where details of a confidential building-level\nemergency response plan or confidential portions of a district-wide\nemergency response strategy are discussed. Each building-level emergency\nresponse team shall be appointed by the building principal, in\naccordance with regulations or guidelines prescribed by the board of\neducation, chancellor or other governing body. Such building-level teams\nshall include but not be limited to representatives of teacher,\nadministrator, and parent organizations, school safety personnel and\nother school personnel including bus drivers and monitors, community\nmembers, law enforcement officials, fire officials or other emergency\nresponse agencies, and any other representatives the board of education,\nchancellor or other governing body deems appropriate.\n 5. The district-wide safety plan and building-level emergency response\nplans shall be reviewed by the appropriate team on at least an annual\nbasis and updated as needed.\n 6. Each board of education, chancellor or other governing body shall\nmake each district-wide safety plan available for public comment at\nleast thirty days prior to its adoption. Such district-wide plans may be\nadopted by the school board only after at least one public hearing that\nprovides for the participation of school personnel, parents, students\nand any other interested parties. Each district shall file a copy of its\ndistrict-wide safety plan with the commissioner and all amendments to\nsuch plan shall be filed with the commissioner no later than thirty days\nafter their adoption.\n 7. Each board of education, chancellor or other governing body or\nofficer shall ensure a copy of each building-level emergency response\nplan and any amendments thereto, shall be filed with the appropriate\nlocal law enforcement agency and with the state police within thirty\ndays of its adoption. Building-level emergency response plans shall be\nconfidential and shall not be subject to disclosure under article six of\nthe public officers law or any other provision of law. If the board of\neducation, chancellor or other governing body or chancellor fails to\nfile such plan as required by this section, the commissioner may, in an\namount determined by the commissioner, withhold public money from the\ndistrict until the district is in compliance.\n 8. The commissioner shall annually report to the governor and the\nlegislature on the implementation and compliance with the provisions of\nthis section.\n 9. Whenever it shall have been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the\ncommissioner that a school district has failed to adopt a code of\nconduct which fully satisfies the requirements of section twenty-eight\nhundred one of this article, or a district-wide safety plan or\nbuilding-level emergency response plans which satisfies the requirements\nof this section, or to faithfully and completely implement all three,\nthe commissioner may, on thirty days notice to the district, withhold\nfrom the district monies to be paid to such district for the current\nschool year pursuant to section thirty-six hundred nine-a of this\nchapter, exclusive of monies to be paid in respect of obligations to the\nretirement systems for school and district staff and pursuant to\ncollective bargaining agreements, or the commissioner may direct the\ndistrict to expend up to such amount upon the development and\nimplementation of a code of conduct and a school district safety plan as\nrequired by such sections. Prior to such withholding or redirection, the\ncommissioner shall provide the district an opportunity to present\nevidence of extenuating circumstances; when combined with evidence that\nthe district shall promptly comply within short time frames that shall\nbe established by the commissioner as part of an agreement between the\ndistrict and the commissioner, the commissioner may temporarily stay the\nwithholding or redirection of funds pending implementation of such\nagreement. If the district promptly and fully complies with the\nagreement and is in full compliance with this section and section\ntwenty-eight hundred one of this article, the commissioner shall abate\nthe withholding in its entirety. Any failure to meet the obligations of\nthe compliance agreement by the district within the time frames\nestablished shall be considered a willful violation of a commissioner's\norder by the members of the district board for purposes of subdivision\none of section three hundred six of the education law. Notwithstanding\nany other law, rule or regulation, such transfer shall take effect upon\nfiling of a notice thereof with the director of the budget and the\nchairs of the senate finance and assembly ways and means committees.\n 10. Every school shall define the roles and areas of responsibility of\nschool personnel, security personnel and law enforcement in response to\nstudent misconduct that violates the code of conduct. A school district\nor charter school that employs, contracts with, or otherwise retains law\nenforcement or public or private security personnel, including school\nresource officers, shall establish a written contract or memorandum of\nunderstanding that is developed with stakeholder input, including, but\nnot limited to, parents, students, school administrators, teachers,\ncollective bargaining units, parent and student organizations and\ncommunity members, as well as probation officers, prosecutors, defense\ncounsels and courts that are familiar with school discipline. Such\nwritten contract or memorandum of understanding shall define the\nrelationship between a school district or charter school, school\npersonnel, students, visitors, law enforcement, and public or private\nsecurity personnel. Such contract or memorandum of understanding shall\nbe consistent with the code of conduct, define law enforcement or\nsecurity personnel's roles, responsibilities and involvement within a\nschool and clearly delegate the role of school discipline to the school\nadministration. Such written contract or memorandum of understanding\nshall be incorporated into and published as part of the district safety\nplan.\n