2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE EIGHTEEN - Education (§§ 1 — 3510-3520) › PART I - Public Schools (§§ 1 — 596d) › Chapter 2 - Bill of Rights and Responsibilities of the School Community (§§ 8 — 17) › Subchapter III - Responsibilities (§§ 13 — 17) › § 13 - Department of Education

(a) To establish and promulgate the General Regulations for the Students of the Puerto Rico Public Education System and the Internal Security Regulations and give notice thereof by means of a copy and orientations to the parents and students of the public education system. Said regulations shall be adopted pursuant to §§ 2101 et seq. of Title 3, known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico”, and shall be filed immediately after approval thereof.
(b) The administrative authorities, as well as the teaching and non-teaching personnel, shall have the duty to ensure compliance with the General Regulations for the Student of the Puerto Rico Public Education System and the Internal Security Regulations, especially provisions related to the codes of conduct and behavior.
(c) To establish and promulgate the Crisis Management Strategic Plan for violent incidents in schools to give notice and copy there of to the parents, tutors and students of the Public Education System.
(d) To provide administrative support to achieve compliance with the school security plans established by the student councils. Said school security plans shall include initiatives directed toward:
(1) Identifying the security needs of the schools.
(2) Providing clean physical facilities in a safe environment.
(3) Implementing training programs for the teachers, non-teaching personnel and student groups in the areas of violence prevention and conflict management.
(e) To redesign those physical facilities whose conditions may influence the development of delinquent or violent activities. The schools should be designed in such a manner so as to prevent the free access of unauthorized persons into the schools and to promote that the school authorities be able to visually supervise student activities in all areas.
(f) The Department of Education shall establish guidelines for the school directors to prepare a report on violent and non-violent incidents within the school premises. Using a standard format, the Director shall gather the information and analyze the data. Subsequently, the Director shall prepare a quarterly report of these findings and submit the same to the School Life Quality Program.
(g) School authorities shall be responsible for coordinating with the Puerto Rico Police the installation of security devices such as video cameras and alarm systems in schools that are declared unsafe by the Department of Education.
(h) The Department of Education shall be responsible for the training of the teaching and administrative personnel on how to manage students with discipline and violence problems. This training shall be based upon conflict management and the early identification of violent situations. The Department of Education is responsible for keeping all its personnel duly informed about the rules for security and violence prevention, so they may know which steps to take in a crisis situation.
(i) The Department of Education shall promote the development of rapid response plans for crisis situations. Among these are plans for evacuation in case of fire, earthquakes, gas leaks and bomb or terrorist threats. Each component of the school system shall clearly understand its role in the crisis plan. The plan shall include a strategy for communicating with security agencies such as the Puerto Rico Police, the Firefighters Corps, Medical Emergencies [Corps.] and the Commonwealth Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Agency. Moreover, a plan shall be established for communicating with the parents and the communications media in case of emergency.
(j) The Department of Education shall ensure compliance with the prevention and orientation programs directed toward the reduction of violent incidents and conflict management in the schools. These training programs shall emphasize problem solving, social interaction, peer pressure management, understanding of values and conflict management skills.
(k) The Department of Education shall use alternative educational environments for those students who have faced school violence problems so as to guarantee a safe school community.
History —May 31, 2006, No. 110, § 3.01.