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A06665 Summary:

BILL NOA06665A
 
SAME ASSAME AS S06537-A
 
SPONSORSimon
 
COSPNSREpstein, Gonzalez-Rojas, Burgos, Cunningham, Walker, Alvarez, Zaccaro, Davila, Reyes, Thiele, Ardila, Shimsky, Simone, Darling, Burdick, Jean-Pierre, Sayegh, Rosenthal L, Raga, Steck, Meeks, Rozic, Stern, Levenberg, Kelles
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Amd §807, Ed L
 
Decreases the frequency of lock-down drills in schools; directs that such drills shall be implemented with a trauma-informed approach; permits parents to opt their children out of such drills.
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A06665 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         6665--A
 
                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                   IN ASSEMBLY
 
                                     April 26, 2023
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by M. of A. SIMON, EPSTEIN, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, BURGOS, CUNNING-
          HAM, WALKER, ALVAREZ, ZACCARO, DAVILA, REYES, THIELE, ARDILA, SHIMSKY,
          SIMONE, DARLING, BURDICK -- read once and referred to the Committee on
          Education -- recommitted to the Committee on Education  in  accordance
          with  Assembly  Rule  3, sec. 2 -- committee discharged, bill amended,
          ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to lock-down drills
 
          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]  ten
    10  times in each school year, [eight] six of which required drills shall be
    11  held  between  September  first  and  December thirty-first of each such
    12  year. Eight of all such drills shall be evacuation drills, four of which
    13  shall be through use of the fire escapes on buildings where fire escapes
    14  are provided or through the use of identified secondary means of egress.
    15  [Four of all such]  Two  required  drills  shall  be  lock-down  drills.
    16  Drills  shall  be conducted at different times of the school day. Pupils
    17  shall be instructed in the procedure to be followed in the event that  a
    18  fire  occurs during the lunch period or assembly, provided however, that
    19  such additional instruction may be waived where a drill is  held  during
    20  the  regular  school  lunch  period  or assembly. Four additional drills
    21  shall be held in each school year during  the  hours  after  sunset  and
    22  before  sunrise  in school buildings in which students are provided with
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD10751-08-4

        A. 6665--A                          2
 
     1  sleeping accommodations. At least two additional drills  shall  be  held
     2  during  summer school in buildings where summer school is conducted, and
     3  one of such drills shall be held during the first week of summer school.
     4    §  2.  Section  807  of  the  education law is amended by adding a new
     5  subdivision 2-a to read as follows:
     6    2-a. (a) In implementing the lock-down drills described in subdivision
     7  one of this section, it shall be the duty of the board of  education  or
     8  school board or other body having control of the schools in any district
     9  or  city  to  adopt  a building-level emergency response plan consistent
    10  with the provisions of section twenty-eight hundred one-a of this  chap-
    11  ter which includes a trauma-informed, developmentally, and age-appropri-
    12  ate  approach  to  the  design and execution of such drills, which shall
    13  stipulate that:
    14    (i) notice to parents and guardians of students of when the  lock-down
    15  drill will be held, at least seven days in advance of such drill;
    16    (ii)  drills  shall  not  include props, actors, simulations, or other
    17  tactics intended to mimic an incident of violence or other emergency;
    18    (iii) an announcement at the time that such drill  is  conducted  that
    19  the activities being conducted are a drill; and
    20    (iv)  schools  shall incorporate strategies and techniques to accommo-
    21  date students, on an individualized basis and in a manner deemed  appro-
    22  priate  by the school, who may need extra support during such drills, as
    23  such needs may have been reported to the school by a parent and/or guar-
    24  dian or otherwise flagged by school personnel.  Nothing in this subdivi-
    25  sion shall infringe on any federal or state laws which protect students.
    26    (b) All boards of education or school boards or  other  bodies  having
    27  control of the schools in any district or city shall incorporate as part
    28  of  the annual school safety staff prescribed in paragraph h of subdivi-
    29  sion two of section twenty-eight hundred one-a of this chapter  guidance
    30  on:
    31    (i)  how  to conduct such drills in a variety of classrooms, including
    32  those with physical limitations such as windowed walls;
    33    (ii) what information  should  be  communicated  to  students  before,
    34  during, and after such drill; and
    35    (iii)  any  other  information  that  the  board  or  body sees fit to
    36  include.  All teachers, administrators, and school personnel subject  to
    37  a  lock-down  drill  shall  be notified of such drill in advance of such
    38  drill occurring and shall be notified of such drill's expected length of
    39  time.
    40    § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of July  next  succeeding
    41  the  date  upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately,
    42  the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or  regulation  neces-
    43  sary  for  the  implementation  of  this  act  on its effective date are
    44  authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
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