Florida HB 1407: Emergency Drills in Public Schools

Bill Text

HB 1407 2021

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1407-00
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S

A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to emergency drills in public schools; 2
amending s. 1006.07, F.S.; revising district school 3
board duties relating to fire drills and emergency 4
drills for active shooter and hostage situations; 5
expanding requirements for district school board 6
procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 7
hostage situations; requiring district school boards 8
to establish procedures to provide advance 9
notification of drills for active shooter and hostage 10
situations to parents and to provide parents with an 11
option to excuse their students from physical drills; 12
requiring such procedures to allow certain students to 13
elect to remain on school premises during physical 14
drills and remain excused from the drills; providing 15
an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
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Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section 20
1006.07, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (g) is 21
added to that subsection, to read: 22
1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 23
discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 24
provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 25

HB 1407 2021

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
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attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 26
attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the 27
welfare of students, including: 28
(4) EMERGENCY DRILLS; EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.— 29
(a) Formulate and prescribe policies and procedures, in 30
consultation with the appropriate public safety agencies, for 31
fire drills and emergency drills for other and for actual 32
emergencies, including, but not limited to, fires, natural 33
disasters, active shooter and hostage situations, and bomb 34
threats, for all students and faculty at all public schools of 35
the district comprised of grades K-12. 36
1.a. Public elementary schools shall conduct at least six 37
fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 38
b. Four of the six fire drills must involve evacuating a 39
building to a designated meeting location outside of the 40
building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 41
drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 42
threats or assailants. Two of the six fire drills may constitute 43
fire prevention training with content designed by the Division 44
of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, but only 45
after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 46
c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active 47
threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 48
hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 49
drills must address natural disasters. 50

HB 1407 2021

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1407-00
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2.a. Public middle and high schools shall conduct at least 51
four fire drills and six emergency drills each school year. 52
b. Three of the four fire drills must involve evacuating a 53
building to a designated meeting location outside of the 54
building. Meeting locations must vary between drills to minimize 55
drill fatigue and the creation of unnecessary exposure to active 56
threats or assailants. One of the four fire drills may 57
constitute fire prevention training with content designed by the 58
Division of State Fire Marshal or the Department of Education, 59
but only after a minimum of two evacuation drills have occurred. 60
c. Four of the six emergency drills must address active 61
threats, including, but not limited to, active assailants, 62
hostage situations, or bomb threats. Two of the six emergency 63
drills must address natural disasters. 64
3. All drills must be developmentally and age appropriate, 65
consist of unique sets of circumstances that require faculty and 66
students to consider the response to that specific threat, and 67
be delivered using plain language. 68
4. Drills for active shooter and hostage situations shall 69
be conducted in accordance with developmentally appropriate and 70
age-appropriate procedures at least as often as other emergency 71
drills. Procedures relating to drills for active shooter and 72
hostage situations must be developed through consultation with 73
at least one mental health professional and be consistent with 74
the best practice considerations provided by the National 75

HB 1407 2021

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb1407-00
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Association of School Psychologists. Law enforcement officers 76
must