Sponsored by:
Senator JOHN A. GIRGENTI
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Senator M. TERESA RUIZ
District 29 (Essex and Union)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator T.Kean
SYNOPSIS
Requires homeland security drills to improve emergency preparedness.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning homeland security drills, supplementing Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and chapter 9 of Appendix A, and amending N.J.S.18A:41-1.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) As used in this act:
“Homeland security drill” means an exercise, other than a fire drill, to practice procedures that respond to an emergency situation including, but not limited to, a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation and that is similar in duration to a fire drill.
2. (New section) A local board of education and chief school administrator of a nonpublic school shall ensure that all full-time teaching staff members in the district or nonpublic school are provided with training on school safety and security that includes instruction on homeland security drills. The training shall use the drill guide and training materials prepared pursuant to section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). Each teaching staff member shall be provided with the training within one year of the effective date of this act or within 60 days of the commencement of that staff member’s employment, whichever date is later.
3. (New section) a. The Director of the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness shall, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, the Director of the Division of Fire Safety in the Department of Community Affairs, the Director of the State Office of Emergency Management in the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and the Attorney General, develop and disseminate to each school district and nonpublic school a building security drill guide and training materials that educate school employees on proper evacuation and lockdown procedures in a variety of emergency situations on school grounds including, but not limited to, bomb threats and active shooter situations.
b. The drill guide and training materials shall be updated at regular intervals in order to ensure that they incorporate the most current information available on school security.
4. N.J.S. 18A:41-1 is amended to read as follows:
18A:41-1 Every principal of a school of two or more rooms, or of a school of one room, when located above the first story of a building, shall have at least [two] one fire [drills] drill and one homeland security drill each month within the school hours, including any summer months during which the school is open for instructional programs, and shall require all teachers of all schools, whether occupying buildings of one or more stories, to keep all doors and exits of their respective rooms and buildings unlocked during the school hours, except during an emergency lockdown or an emergency lockdown drill. Where school buildings have been provided with fire escapes, they shall be used by a part or all of the pupils performing every fire drill.
(cf: P.L.2007, c.205)
5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the tenth month after enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill provides for the improved emergency preparedness of public and nonpublic schools in the State. Under current law, most public schools are required to conduct two fire drills each month. This bill amends the law to require one monthly fire drill and one monthly homeland security drill, which is defined as an exercise to practice procedures that respond to an emergency situation such as a non-fire evacuation, lockdown, or active shooter situation, and which is similar in duration to a fire drill. This bill also amends current law to allow for public school teachers to lock doors and exits during an emergency lockdown or emergency lockdown drill.
The bill directs the Director of the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, the Director of the Division of Fire Safety in the Department of Community Affairs, the Director of the State Office of Emergency Management in the Division of State Police in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and the Attorney General, to develop and disseminate training curriculum to each school district and nonpublic school that will assist them in properly preparing to conduct homeland security drills. The curriculum will educate school employees on proper evacuation and lockdown procedures in a variety of emergency situations on school grounds such as bomb threats and active shooter situations.
The bill also requires each local board of education and chief school administrator of a nonpublic school to ensure that all of their full-time teaching staff members are provided with training on school safety and security that includes instruction on the implementation of homeland security drills. Under the bill, the training must use the drill guide and training materials prepared by the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.