Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1780 By Senator Cruz 18-00480A-21 20211780__ Page 1 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1

An act relating to emergency drills in public schools; 2 amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; revising district school 3 board duties relating to fire drills and emergency 4 drills for active shooter and hostage situations; 5 expanding requirements for district school board 6 procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 7 hostage situations; requiring district school boards 8 to establish procedures to provide advance 9 notification of drills for active shooter and hostage 10 situations to parents and to provide parents with an 11 option to excuse their students from physical drills; 12 requiring such procedures to allow certain students to 13 elect to remain on school premises during physical 14 drills and remain excused from the drills; providing 15 an effective date. 16 17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18 19

Section 1. Paragraph (

a) of subsection (4) of

section 20 1006.07, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (

g) is 21 added to that subsection, to read: 22 1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 23 discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 24 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 25 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 26 attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 27 welfare of students, including: 28

(4) EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.— 29 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1780 18-00480A-21 20211780__ Page 2 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (

a) Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures, in 30 consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies, for 31 fire drills and emergency drills for other and for actual 32 emergencies, including, but not limited to, fires, natural 33 disasters, active shooter and hostage situations, and bomb 34 threats, for all students and faculty at all public schools of 35 the district comprised of grades K-12. 36 1.a. Public elementary schools shall conduct at least six 37 fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 38 b.

Four of the six fire drills must involve evacuating a 39 building to a designated meeting location outside of the 40 building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 41 drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 42 threats or assailants. Two of the six fire drills may constitute 43 fire prevention training with content designed by the Division 44 of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, but only 45 after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 46 c.

Four of the six emergency drills must address active 47 threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 48 hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 49 drills must address natural disasters. 50 2.a. Public middle and high schools shall conduct at least 51 four fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 52 b. Three of the four fire drills must involve evacuating a 53 building to a designated meeting location outside of the 54 building.

Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 55 drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 56 threats or assailants. One of the four fire drills may 57 constitute fire prevention training with content designed by the 58 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1780 18-00480A-21 20211780__ Page 3 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. Division of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, 59 but only after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 60 c.

Four of the six emergency drills must address active 61 threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 62 hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 63 drills must address natural disasters. 64 3. All drills must be developmentally and age appropriate, 65 consist of unique sets of circumstances that require faculty and 66 students to consider the response to that specific threat, and 67 be delivered using plain language. 68 4.

Drills for active shooter and hostage situations shall 69 be conducted in accordance with developmentally appropriate and 70 age-appropriate procedures at least as often as other emergency 71 drills. Procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 72 hostage situations must be developed through consultation with 73 at least one mental health professional and be consistent with 74 the best practice considerations provided by the National 75 Association of School Psychologists.

Law enforcement officers 76 must be physically present and directly involved in the 77 execution of all active shooter and hostage situation drills. 78 5.a. District school board policies must shall include 79 commonly used alarm system responses for specific types of 80 emergencies and verification by each school that drills have 81 been provided as required by law and fire protection codes.

The 82 emergency response policy must shall identify the individuals 83 responsible for contacting the primary emergency response agency 84 and the emergency response agency that is responsible for 85 notifying the school district for each type of emergency. 86 b. District school board policies must address the needs of 87 Florida Senate - 2021 SB 1780 18-00480A-21 20211780__ Page 4 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. exceptional education students. 88 (

g) Establish procedures to provide notification of drills 89 for active shooter and hostage situations to a student’s parent 90 before a drill occurs and to provide the parent with the option 91 to excuse his or her student from any drills that require 92 evacuation from a building. The procedures must also allow a 93 student whose parent has excused him or her from a drill that 94 requires evacuation from a building to elect to remain on the 95 school premises during the drill and remain excused from the 96 drill. 97

Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021. 98