NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9676
SPONSOR: Eachus TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to establishing active
shooter drills at public and private educational institutions
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would require school emergency response drills to include
drills on responding to an active shooter and other lethal attackers,
and require school safety improvement teams (an interdisciplinary team
of representatives from the division of homeland security, division of
state police, division of criminal justice services and the department
of education) to provide recommendations on how to perform such lock-
down and active shooter drills at such public or private educational
institutions.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would amend section 807 of the education law to require that
two of the four annual "Lock-Down Drills" conducted by schools during
the twelve emergency (fire) drills be "active shooter drills". It would
further provide that schools can request school safety improvement teams
to provide recommendations on how to conduct lock down and active shoot-
er drills.
JUSTIFICATION:
Recent school attacks across the nation have demonstrated an important
need to increase security at schools. Sadly, the threat of deranged
individuals entering a school to inflict harm is more common now than
ever.
Just as schools conduct fire drills in order that students and faculty
know what to do in case of a fire, conducting active shooter drills will
ensure students are equally prepared to take protective action in the
event an active shooter entering a school. Schools are already required
to conduct 12 emergency drills each school year. This bill would merely
mandate that two of those drills be in response to an active shooter or
any other lethal attacker at a school.
This bill would also allow schools to call upon the expertise of the
interdisciplinary school safety improvement teams, established under
section 2801-b of the education law, to properly design and coordinate
effective drills to properly protect students, faculty, administration
and visitors. According to a report from the U.S. Government Account-
ability Office, 97% of school districts perform fire drills, while only
67% of school districts conduct active shooter drills. It's everyone's
worst nightmare for an active shooter to attack a school, but now more
than ever schools need to be prepared. By requiring schools to conduct
age-appropriate exercises, this bill ensures that all schools in cur
state will know what to do in a worst-case scenario.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2018: S.7845 - Passed Senate
2019/2020: S310 - Education Committee
2021/2022: S3346 - Education Committee
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None noted.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9676
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2024
___________
Introduced by M. of A. EACHUS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing active
shooter drills at public and private educational institutions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 807 of the education law, as
2 amended by section 2 of part B of chapter 54 of the laws of 2016, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 1. It shall be the duty of the principal or other person in charge of
5 every public or private school or educational institution within the
6 state, other than colleges or universities, to instruct and train the
7 pupils by means of drills, so that they may in a sudden emergency be
8 able to respond appropriately in the shortest possible time and without
9 confusion or panic. Such drills shall be held at least twelve times in
10 each school year, eight of which required drills shall be held between
11 September first and December thirty-first of each such year. Eight of
12 all such drills shall be evacuation drills, four of which shall be
13 through use of the fire escapes on buildings where fire escapes are
14 provided or through the use of identified secondary means of egress.
15 Four of all such required drills shall be emergency attack drills, with
16 two of such drills being lock-down drills and two of such drills being
17 active shooter drills. Upon request of the principal or other person in
18 charge of such public or private educational institution, the New York
19 state school safety improvement teams, established pursuant to section
20 twenty-eight hundred one-b of this chapter, shall provide recommenda-
21 tions on how to perform such lock-down and active shooter drills at such
22 public or private educational institution. Drills shall be conducted at
23 different times of the school day. Pupils shall be instructed in the
24 procedure to be followed in the event that a fire occurs during the
25 lunch period or assembly, provided however, that such additional
26 instruction may be waived where a drill is held during the regular
27 school lunch period or assembly. Four additional drills shall be held in
28 each school year during the hours after sunset and before sunrise in
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03342-01-3
A. 9676 2
1 school buildings in which students are provided with sleeping accommo-
2 dations. At least two additional drills shall be held during summer
3 school in buildings where summer school is conducted, and one of such
4 drills shall be held during the first week of summer school.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
