Sec. 37.108. MULTIHAZARD EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN; SAFETY AND SECURITY AUDIT. (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, mandatory school drills and exercises to prepare district students and employees for responding to an emergency;
(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) At least once every three years, each school district or public junior college district shall conduct a safety and security audit of the district's facilities. To the extent possible, a district shall follow safety and security audit procedures developed by the Texas School Safety Center or a comparable public or private entity.
(c) A school district or public junior college district shall report the results of the safety and security audit conducted under Subsection (b) to the district's board of trustees and, in the manner required by the Texas School Safety Center, to the Texas School Safety Center.
(c-1) Except as provided by Subsection (c-2), any document or information collected, developed, or produced during a safety and security audit conducted under Subsection (b) is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(c-2) A document relating to a school district's or public junior college district's multihazard emergency operations plan is subject to disclosure if the document enables a person to:
(1) verify that the district has established a plan and determine the agencies involved in the development of the plan and the agencies coordinating with the district to respond to an emergency, including the Department of State Health Services, local emergency services agencies, law enforcement agencies, health departments, and fire departments;
(2) verify that the district's plan was reviewed within the last 12 months and determine the specific review dates;
(3) verify that the plan addresses the four phases of emergency management under Subsection (a);
(4) verify that district employees have been trained to respond to an emergency and determine the types of training, the number of employees trained, and the person conducting the training;
(5) verify that each campus in the district has conducted mandatory emergency drills and exercises in accordance with the plan and determine the frequency of the drills;
(6) if the district is a school district, verify that the district has established a plan for responding to a train derailment if required under Subsection (d);
(7) verify that the district has completed a safety and security audit under Subsection (b) and determine the date the audit was conducted, the person conducting the audit, and the date the district presented the results of the audit to the district's board of trustees;
(8) verify that the district has addressed any recommendations by the district's board of trustees for improvement of the plan and determine the district's progress within the last 12 months; and
(9) if the district is a school district, verify that the district has established a visitor policy and identify the provisions governing access to a district building or other district property.
(d) A school district shall include in its multihazard emergency operations plan a policy for responding to a train derailment near a district school. A school district is only required to adopt the policy described by this subsection if a district school is located within 1,000 yards of a railroad track, as measured from any point on the school's real property boundary line. The school district may use any available community resources in developing the policy described by this subsection.
Added by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 780 (S.B. 11), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2005.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 258 (S.B. 11), Sec. 3.02, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1326 (S.B. 1504), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2007.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1280 (H.B. 1831), Sec. 6.01, eff. September 1, 2009.
Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1280 (H.B. 1831), Sec. 6.02, eff. September 1, 2009.
For expiration of this section, see Subsection (c).
Last modified: September 28, 2016