House Bill hb0197

    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 197

        By Representative Harper






  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to school emergency

  3         preparedness; amending s. 230.23, F.S.;

  4         requiring the Department of Education to adopt

  5         rules governing emergency drills which must be

  6         followed by each district school board;

  7         providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

10

11         Section 1.  Paragraph (f) of subsection (6) of section

12  230.23, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

13         230.23  Powers and duties of school board.--The school

14  board, acting as a board, shall exercise all powers and

15  perform all duties listed below:

16         (6)  CHILD WELFARE.--Provide for the proper accounting

17  for all children of school age, for the attendance and control

18  of pupils at school, and for proper attention to health,

19  safety, and other matters relating to the welfare of children

20  in the following fields, as prescribed in chapter 232.

21         (f)  Emergency drills; emergency procedures.--

22         1.  The district school board shall formulate and

23  prescribe policies and procedures for emergency drills and for

24  actual emergencies, including, but not limited to, fires,

25  natural disasters, and bomb threats, for all the public

26  schools of the district which comprise grades K-12. District

27  policies shall include commonly used alarm system responses

28  for specific types of emergencies and verification by each

29  school that drills have been provided as required by law and

30  fire protection codes.

31

                                  1

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida House of Representatives - 2002                 HB 197

    766-118-02






  1         2.  The district school board shall establish model

  2  emergency management and emergency preparedness procedures for

  3  the following life-threatening emergencies:

  4         a.  Weapon-use and hostage situations.

  5         b.  Hazardous materials or toxic chemical spills.

  6         c.  Weather emergencies, including hurricanes,

  7  tornadoes, and severe storms.

  8         d.  Exposure as a result of a manmade emergency.

  9         3.  The Department of Education shall adopt rules

10  governing emergency drills which must be followed by each

11  district school board. The rules must require each school to

12  conduct and document at least 10 fire drills per school year

13  and at least 2 tornado drills per school year.

14         Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

15

16            *****************************************

17                          SENATE SUMMARY

18    Requires the Department of Education to adopt rules
      governing emergency drills which must be followed by each
19    district school board and must provide for a minimum of
      10 fire drills and 2 tornado drills per school year.
20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

                                  2

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.