An Act Regarding the Maine School Safety Center
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1870
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: COREY, McCREA
Amends: 20-A MRSA §6557

Legislative Document
No. 1870
H.P. 1380
House of Representatives, January 5, 2022
An Act Regarding the Maine School Safety Center
Submitted by the Department of Education pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative COREY of Windham.
Cosponsored by Representative: McCREA of Fort Fairfield.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §6557, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 398, Pt. HH, §1 and 
reallocated by RR 2021, c. 1, Pt. A, §19, is amended to read:
§6557.  Maine School Safety Center
The Maine School Safety Center, referred to in this section as "the center," is 
established within the department to ensure assist schools in their efforts to provide for the 
overall safety of schools in this State their school community.  The primary role of the 
center is to provide training, guidance and technical support to schools in this State 
regarding safety and security their efforts to safely mitigate against, prepare for, respond to 
and recover from all hazards and threats.
1.  Purposes.  The purposes of the center are to:
A.  Serve as a central location for school safety and security information, training and 
technical assistance related to successful implementation of school safety and security 
programs in schools;
B.  Be a resource for the prevention of youth violence;
C.  Promote overall school safety by developing recommendations to support a positive 
school climate and multiple-hazard mitigation and response plans;
D.  Develop and provide school emergency management, training, guidance and 
technical support to include information provided by persons with expertise in the 
relevant subject matter in the development of the center's school safety specialist 
education program;
E.  Promote, develop and implement technical support and training for a behavioral 
threat assessment program; and
F.  Facilitate and assist local schools and public safety stakeholders in preventing, 
preparing for and responding to threats and acts of violence, including self-harm, 
through a holistic, solution-based approach to improving school safety.
2.  Collaboration.  The center shall work collaboratively with all appropriate 
stakeholders in furtherance of its purposes as set out in subsection 1. 
3.  Staff and services.  The center’s staff consists of a director, assistant director and 
employees responsible for providing the following services to schools in the State:
A.  Training, including school safety specialist training and credentialing in a school 
emergency management education program;
B.  Mental health and behavioral threat assessment;
C.  Site assessment and school climate assessment;
D.  Planning and emergency operation plan review and exercises;
E.  Training, procedures and best practices for school resource officers and officers that 
may have interactions with youth;
F.  Legislation and policy recommendations and review;
G.  Administrative assistance;
H.  Restorative justice assistance and assistance regarding alternatives to traditional 
discipline; and
I.  Contracted school safety services.
SUMMARY
This bill details the purposes of the Department of Education, Maine School Safety 
Center.  It describes the staff of the center and the services for which they are responsible.