Assembly Bill A7658

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7658
 
                        2017-2018 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                May 5, 2017
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. GJONAJ -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to school safety plans
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subdivisions 1, 5, 6 and 8 and paragraphs d,  e  and  j  of
 subdivision  2  of  section  2801-a  of the education law, as amended by
 section 1 of part B of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016,  are  amended  to
 read as follows:
   1.  The  board  of education or trustees, as defined in section two of
 this chapter,  of  every  school  district  within  the  state,  however
 created,  and every board of cooperative educational services and county
 vocational education and extension board and the chancellor of the  city
 school  district of the city of New York shall adopt and amend a compre-
 hensive district-wide school safety plan  and  building-level  emergency
 response  plans  regarding  crisis  intervention, emergency response and
 management, provided that in the city school district of the city of New
 York, such plans shall be adopted by the chancellor of the  city  school
 district. Such plans shall be developed by a district-wide school safety
 team  and  a building-level emergency response team established pursuant
 to subdivision four of this section and shall be in a form developed  by
 the  commissioner  in consultation with the division of criminal justice
 services, the superintendent of the state police and any other appropri-
 ate state agencies. The commissioner, in consultation  with  the  super-
 intendent of the state police, is authorized to develop an appeals proc-
 ess  from duplicative requirements of a district-wide school safety plan
 for school districts having only one school building.    EACH  DISTRICT-
 WIDE SCHOOL SAFETY PLAN AND BUILDING-LEVEL EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLAN SHALL
 BE  MADE  AVAILABLE,  ON  ALL  SCHOOL WEBSITES, TO PARENTS, GUARDIANS OR
 PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION TO A STUDENT AND SHALL BE PROVIDED IN EVERY

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD11155-02-7
              

 A. 7658                             2
 
 LANGUAGE WHICH IS SPOKEN BY FIVE PERCENT OR MORE OF THE STUDENT BODY  IN
 THE DISTRICT.
   d.  policies  and  procedures  [for]  WHICH  REQUIRE THE contacting OF
 appropriate law enforcement officials in the event of a violent incident
 OR THE THREAT OF A VIOLENT INCIDENT;
   e. policies and procedures  [for]  WHICH  REQUIRE  THE  contacting  OF
 parents,  guardians  or  persons in parental relation to the students of
 the district in the event of a violent  incident  OR  THE  THREAT  OF  A
 VIOLENT  INCIDENT  and  policies  and procedures for contacting parents,
 guardians or persons in parental relation to an  individual  student  of
 the  district in the event of an implied or direct threat of violence by
 such student against themselves, which  for  purposes  of  this  section
 shall include suicide;
   j.  strategies  for improving communication among students and between
 students and staff, HEALTH ISSUE TEMPLATES PROVIDED  BY  THE  DEPARTMENT
 ALONG WITH A GUIDE ON HOW TO ADDRESS THEM WITH STUDENTS and reporting of
 potentially violent incidents OR THE THREAT OF POTENTIALLY VIOLENT INCI-
 DENTS,  such as the establishment of youth-run programs, peer mediation,
 conflict resolution, creating  a  forum  or  designating  a  mentor  for
 students  concerned with bullying or violence and establishing anonymous
 reporting mechanisms for school violence;
   5. The district-wide safety plan and building-level emergency response
 plans shall be reviewed by the appropriate team on at  least  an  annual
 basis  [and] updated as needed AND IN PLACE BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF EACH
 SCHOOL YEAR.
   6. Each board of education, chancellor or other governing  body  shall
 make  each  district-wide  safety  plan  available for public comment at
 least [thirty] FORTY-FIVE days prior to its adoption.    Such  district-
 wide  plans  may  be adopted by the school board only after at least one
 public hearing that provides for the participation of school  personnel,
 parents,  students and any other interested parties. EACH DISTRICT SHALL
 PROVIDE ADEQUATE NOTICE OF SUCH OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC  COMMENT  THROUGH
 THE  USE  OF  FLYERS AND INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL WEBSITES. Each district shall
 file a copy of its district-wide safety plan with the  commissioner  and
 all  amendments  to  such  plan  shall be filed with the commissioner no
 later than thirty days after their adoption. WITHIN THIRTY DAYS FROM THE
 FINAL DAY OF EACH SCHOOL YEAR, EACH SCHOOL DISTRICT  SHALL  PROVIDE  THE
 DEPARTMENT WITH A REPORT, BROKEN DOWN BY EACH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL, DETAIL-
 ING INVOLVEMENT BY PARENTS, GUARDIANS OR PERSONS IN PARENTAL RELATION TO
 A  STUDENT  IN  THE  SAFETY PLANS ADOPTED AND INCLUDING ALL INCIDENTS IN
 WHICH THE PLAN WAS USED.
   8. The commissioner shall annually report  to  the  governor  and  the
 legislature  on the implementation and compliance with the provisions of
 this section AND  SHALL  SEND  OUT  NOTIFICATIONS  TO  ALL  STAKEHOLDERS
 INFORMING  THEM  THAT  THE SAFETY PLAN IMPLEMENTED FOR THAT YEAR IN EACH
 DISTRICT HAS GONE THROUGH THE STEPS REQUIRED BY  THIS  SECTION  AND  HAS
 BEEN CERTIFIED BY THE DEPARTMENT AND THE NEW YORK STATE POLICE.
   §  2.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.