Bill > HSB692

Introduced Session

This bill relates to school security, including by modifying provisions related to the issuance of school bonds, requiring schools to conduct school safety reviews and have access to the statewide interoperable communications system, establishing the school emergency radio access grant program and the firearm detection software grant program within the department of homeland security and emergency management, and requiring the department of public safety to convene a task force related to the safety and security standards of schools and school infrastructure. The bill requires each school district, accredited nonpublic school, charter school, and innovation zone school to complete a comprehensive review and evaluation of the school’s ability to ensure the safety of students enrolled in the school and of school employees. The bill provides that the results of the comprehensive review and evaluation shall be confidential and shall not be a public record subject to disclosure. The bill establishes that, on or before the first day of the school calendar for the school year beginning July 1, 2024, each school is required to submit the results of the comprehensive review and evaluation to all local law enforcement agencies. The bill requires that, on or before the first day of the school calendar for the school year beginning July 1, 2024, each school district, accredited nonpublic school, charter school, and innovation zone school is required to have at least one handheld or console radio that is capable of accessing the statewide interoperable communications system at each attendance center operated by the school. The bill provides that the department of homeland security and emergency H.F. _____ management shall establish a school emergency radio access grant program to provide grants to schools that, as of January 1, 2024, did not have at least one handheld or console radio that was capable of accessing such system at each attendance center operated by the school, to help such schools offset the cost associated with purchasing and installing such radio. The bill authorizes the department to adopt emergency rules to implement the program. The bill appropriates $3 million from the 911 emergency communications fund for FY 2023-2024 for purposes of the grant program. The bill provides that if these moneys remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year, the moneys shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. The bill establishes that moneys awarded under this provision shall be used to supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by school districts for similar purposes. The bill requires the department of homeland security and emergency management to establish a firearm detection software grant program to provide grants to school districts to help such school districts offset the cost associated with purchasing, installing, and operating software that is designed to detect and alert school district employees and first responders if there is a visible, unholstered firearm on property owned by the school district, is designated by the secretary of homeland security as qualified anti-terrorism technology, is designed to integrate with a school district’s existing security camera infrastructure, and was developed in the United States without the use of any third-party data or open-source data. The bill authorizes the department to adopt emergency rules to implement the program. The bill requires the department to award at least one grant under the program to certain specified schools. The bill appropriates $350,000 from the general fund of the state for FY 2023-2024 for purposes of the grant program. The bill provides that if these moneys H.F. _____ remain unencumbered or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year, the moneys shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year. The bill establishes that moneys awarded under this provision shall be used to supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by school districts for similar purposes. The bill requires school districts that receive a grant to, in coordination with the department of homeland security and emergency management and the department of public safety’s school safety bureau, evaluate the effectiveness of the software purchased with moneys awarded under this provision in protecting students, school personnel, and the public and submit reports to the general assembly. The bill requires the department of public safety, in collaboration with the department of education and the department of homeland security and emergency management, to convene a task force to study and make recommendations related to the safety and security standards of schools and school infrastructure. The bill requires the task force to submit its findings and recommendations to the general assembly on or before December 31, 2024. The findings and recommendations are required to include a proposal for modifications to the state building code that are applicable to the construction of new attendance centers and the renovation of existing attendance centers and that incorporate standards designed to increase the safety of schools and school infrastructure. The bill prohibits the board of directors of a school corporation from issuing negotiable, interest-bearing school bonds for borrowing money for purposes of constructing a new school building or site to be used primarily for interscholastic athletic contests or competitions, or renovating or improving a building or site that is currently used for such purposes, unless all of the attendance centers of the school corporation are in compliance with these modified provisions of the state building code, if adopted. H.F. _____ The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code section 25B.3. The bill requires that the state cost of any state mandate included in the bill be paid by a school district from state school foundation aid received by the school district under Code section 257.16. The specification is deemed to constitute state compliance with any state mandate funding-related requirements of Code section 25B.2. The inclusion of this specification is intended to reinstate the requirement of political subdivisions to comply with any state mandates included in the bill. The bill takes effect upon enactment.

Committee Categories

No sponsors listed

Other Sponsors (1)

Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 2652. (on 03/07/2024)

Official Document