Arkansas Code of 1987 (2023) › Title 6 - EDUCATION (§§ 6-1-101 — 6-87-104) › Subtitle 2 - ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION GENERALLY (§§ 6-10-101 — 6-28-206) › Chapter 15 - EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS AND QUALITY GENERALLY (§§ 6-15-101 — 6-15-3204) › Subchapter 13 - SAFE SCHOOLS COMMITTEE (§§ 6-15-1301 — 6-15-1305) › Section 6-15-1303 - Safe Schools Initiative Act

(a)
(1)
A public school district or open-enrollment public charter school shall conduct a comprehensive school safety assessment every three (3) years to assess the safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness of district buildings and grounds in collaboration with local law enforcement, fire, and emergency management officials.
(2)
(A)
A comprehensive school safety assessment shall be conducted by more than one (1) individual, including at least one (1) individual who is not assigned to the facility being assessed, if the assessment is conducted by district personnel.
(B)
A comprehensive school safety assessment shall include without limitation an assessment of the following:
(i)
Safety and security of the site and exterior of buildings;
(ii)
Access control;
(iii)
Safety and security of the interior of buildings;
(iv)
Monitoring and surveillance, including without limitation type and extent;
(v)
Communication and information security;
(vi)
Review of emergency operation plans; and
(vii)
School climate and culture.
(3)
The initial comprehensive school safety assessment shall be conducted by August 1, 2024.
(4)
The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules specifying how the completion of the assessment and confirmation of collaboration with local law enforcement and emergency management officials shall be verified.
(b)
(1)
A public school district or open-enrollment public charter school shall conduct an annual lockdown drill for a possible threat on campus at each school in the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school.
(2)
As part of the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school's planning for lockdown drills, the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school shall:
(A)
Assess the plan and ability of the public school district or open-enrollment public charter school to prevent and respond to a threat on campus;
(B)
Identify the roles and responsibilities of each individual when an emergency occurs;
(C)
Discuss the logistics of responding to an emergency on the school campus;
(D)
Identify areas in which the emergency operation plan of the school may require modification, if necessary; and
(E)
Collaborate with local law enforcement, medical professionals, and fire department and emergency management officials.
(3)
The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules describing how the completion of the drills and confirmation of collaboration with local law enforcement, medical professionals, and fire department and emergency management officials shall be verified.
(c)
(1)
On or before October 1, 2021, a public school shall provide current floor plans and pertinent emergency contact information to appropriate first responders.
(2)
Public school administration shall provide updated information annually and when substantial building modifications or changes are made.
(3)
Information provided under this subsection is not a public record and is not available for public inspection.
(4)
The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules describing how public school compliance with subdivisions (c)(1) and (2) of this section will be verified.
(d)
(1)
Subject to continued appropriation and funding for this purpose, the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute shall assist the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education in building the capacity of educators, leaders, and law enforcement professionals to meet the safety needs of children in public schools in this state.
(2)
The Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute shall promote and support school safety statewide and shall provide school safety training, education, and resources for school, school district, and law enforcement personnel.
(3)
(A)
The Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute shall be the state school safety clearinghouse and shall collaborate with the following entities to provide a comprehensive, efficient, and effective resource for education and law enforcement personnel to obtain training and technical assistance to meet the school safety needs of students in this state:
(i)
The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education;
(ii)
The Safe Schools Committee established under this subchapter;
(iii)
The Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators;
(iv)
The Arkansas School Boards Association;
(v)
Education service cooperatives;
(vi)
The Division of Emergency Management;
(vii)
The Arkansas Public School Resource Center, Inc.; and
(viii)
Other key stakeholders.
(B)
The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education shall collaborate actively with the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute and shall promote the training and resources provided by the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute to public school district or open-enrollment public charter school staff.
(C)
The training provided by the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute may include without limitation the training and education needed to assist a public school or private school in:
(i)
Developing prevention strategies and enhancing existing emergency response plans for campus security and safety issues;
(ii)
Addressing public safety and legal topics such as drugs and alcohol abuse, sexual assault, dating violence, bullying and cyberbullying, human trafficking, gangs, preventing the possession of weapons by minors, and responding to the threat of weapons at school;
(iii)
Conducting school safety assessments;
(iv)
Cooperating effectively with law enforcement officers, school resource officers, and other school safety personnel, in the school setting; and
(v)
Other relevant school safety topics, initiatives, and programs.
(4)
Annual training and emergency response drills may be conducted during the instructional day or during noninstructional time periods as determined by the school district.
(e)
Subject to an appropriation and funding for this purpose, each public school, in collaboration with the school district, may install communications equipment that is interoperable with the Arkansas Wireless Information Network system.
(f)
(1)
A public school district or open-enrollment public charter school shall have a school safety expert review and advise on architectural plans for a public school facility before the new construction of the public school facility.
(2)
The requirements for a school safety expert shall be established by the Commission for Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation by rule.
(g)
To promote school safety, the Department of Education shall:
(1)
Work with organizations, including without limitation the following:
(A)
Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance Center (TA); and
(B)
The National Training and Technical Assistance Center in order to develop a customized, state-level school bus safety initiative for use by public school districts, open-enrollment public charter schools, and transportation offices;
(2)
(A)
Make crisis response training available to school personnel and other key stakeholders throughout the state.
(B)
The Department of Education shall ensure all public school districts and open-enrollment public charter schools receive relevant training information required under subdivision (g)(2)(A) of this section in a timely manner; and
(3)
Conduct an analysis to determine how the Arkansas State Fusion Center may be more effectively utilized to:
(A)
Receive and disseminate information pertaining to threats against public schools; and
(B)
Provide timely and relevant information to public schools and other appropriate entities pertaining to school safety.
(h)
Each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school shall support student mental health on a timeline to be established by the Department of Education by:
(1)
Supporting access to training in youth mental health for all school personnel who interact with students;
(2)
Requiring all school staff to complete mental health awareness training; and
(3)
Establishing a behavioral threat assessment team, which shall:
(A)
Follow best practices for team composition and process; and
(B)
Require that all team members receive basic and advanced behavioral threat assessment training through the Arkansas Center for School Safety of the Criminal Justice Institute or another organization or entity approved by the State Board of Education.
(i)
Each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school shall work with law enforcement to improve school safety and security by:
(1)
Developing plans to increase the presence of uniformed law enforcement on all public school campuses at all times when school staff and children are attending class or during a major extracurricular activity;
(2)
(A)
Providing to school resource officers, commissioned school security officers, and institutional law enforcement officers regular specialized training, including specific training on roles and responsibilities associated with each position.
(B)
Responsibilities of school resource officers, commissioned school security officers, and institutional law enforcement officers shall not include involvement with student disciplinary action, as defined in §
6-18-501
et seq.; and
(3)
Implementing and expanding strategies to promote reporting, which shall include anonymous reporting of:
(A)
Suspicious activity and behavior; and
(B)
Threats.
(j)
Each public school district and open-enrollment public charter school shall promote student security and safety by:
(1)
Forming District Safety and Security Teams to review district emergency operations plans and security policies and procedures;
(2)
(A)
Conducting a comprehensive school safety assessment every three (3) years that is reviewed by the public school district board of directors and administration or an open-enrollment public charter school's governing body.
(B)
The comprehensive school safety assessment required under subdivision (j)(2)(A) of this section shall:
(i)
Be solely for the purpose of ensuring student safety;
(ii)
Not be a public record and not be available for public inspection under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, §
25-19-101
et seq.; and
(iii)
Be conducted only in an executive session convened by a public school district board of directors or an open-enrollment public charter school's governing body;
(3)
Training school nurses and staff in efforts that enhance the emergency medical response within public schools, including without limitation:
(A)
Training concerning opioid overdose; and
(B)
Bleeding control training;
(4)
Establishing and maintaining a comprehensive, common communication plan to be utilized by:
(A)
School officials;
(B)
Students;
(C)
Parents, legal guardians, or persons standing in loco parentis to a student;
(D)
Law enforcement; and
(E)
Other relevant stakeholders;
(5)
Establishing systems that enable direct communication with local law enforcement, which may include without limitation:
(A)
Emergency alert systems;
(B)
Radios for school officials that are programmed with law enforcement frequencies; and
(C)
School camera systems that can be accessed in real time by law enforcement; and
(6)
Reviewing and updating cybersecurity policies and procedures annually.
Amended by Act 2023, No. 237,§ 8, eff. 3/8/2023.
Amended by Act 2021, No. 648,§ 2, eff. 7/28/2021.
Amended by Act 2021, No. 620,§ 2, eff. 7/28/2021.
Amended by Act 2015, No. 950,§ 1, eff. 7/22/2015.
Added by Act 2013, No. 484,§ 3, eff. 8/16/2013.