| (B) include a panic alert button, duress, or equivalent
alarm system, via standalone hardware, software, or integrated into
other telecommunications devices or online applications, that includes
the following functionality.
(i) An alert must be capable of being triggered by
campus staff, including temporary or substitute staff, from an integrated
or enabled device.
(ii) An alert must be triggered automatically in the
event a district employee makes a 9-1-1 call using the hardware or
integrated telecommunications devices described in this subparagraph
from any location within the school system.
(iii) With any alert generated, the location of where
the alert originated shall be included.
(iv) The alert must notify a set of designated school
administrators as needed to provide confirmation of response, and,
if confirmed, notice must be issued to the 9-1-1 center of an emergency
situation requiring a law enforcement and/or emergency response and
must include the location of where the alert originated. A notice
can simultaneously be issued to all school staff of the need to follow
appropriate emergency procedures.
(v) For any exterior doors that feature electronic
locking mechanisms that allow for remote locking, the alert system
will trigger those doors to automatically lock.
(11) In implementing the requirements of this section,
school systems shall comply with state and federal Kari's Laws and
federal RAY BAUM's Act and corresponding rules and regulations pertaining
to 9-1-1 service for school telephone systems, including a multi-line
telephone system.
(d) Certain operating requirements. A school system
shall implement the following.
(1) Access control. The board of trustees or the governing
board shall adopt a policy requiring the following continued auditing
of building access:
(A) conduct at least weekly inspections during school
hours of all exterior doors of all instructional facilities to certify
that all doors are, by default, set to a closed, latched, and locked
status and cannot be opened from the outside without a key as required
in subsection (c)(3)(A) of this section;
(B) report the findings of weekly inspections required
by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to the school system's safety
and security committee as required by TEC, §37.109, and ensure
the results are kept for review as part of the safety and security
audit as required by TEC, §37.108;
(C) report the findings of weekly inspections required
by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph to the principal or leader of
the instructional facility to ensure awareness of any deficiencies
identified and who must take action to reduce the likelihood of similar
deficiencies in the future; and
(D) include a provision in the school system's applicable
policy stating that nothing in a school system's access control procedures
will be interpreted as discouraging parents, once properly verified
as authorized campus visitors, from visiting campuses they are authorized
to visit.
(2) Exterior and interior door numbering site plan.
(A) A school system must develop and maintain an accurate
site layout and exterior and interior door designation document for
each instructional facility school system-wide that identifies all
exterior and interior doors in the instructional facility and depicts
all exterior doors on a floor plan with an alpha-numeric designation,
in accordance with the door numbering specifications established in
subsection (c)(1) of this section.
(B) Copies of exterior and interior door numbering
site plans shall be readily available in each campus main office.
(C) Electronic copies of exterior and interior door
numbering site plans shall be supplied to the local 9-1-1 administrative
entity so that the site plans can be made available to emergency responders
by 9-1-1 dispatchers.
(D) The site layout and exterior and interior door
designation document should be oriented in a manner that depicts true
north.
(3) Maintenance.
(A) A school system shall perform at least twice-yearly
maintenance checks to ensure the facility components required in subsection
(c) of this section function as required. At a minimum, maintenance
checks shall ensure the following:
(i) instructional facility exterior doors function
properly, including meeting the requirements in subsection (c)(3)(A)
and (C) of this section;
(ii) the locking mechanism for any ground-level windows
that can be opened function properly;
(iii) any perimeter barriers and related gates function
properly;
(iv) all panic alert or similar emergency notification
systems in classrooms and campus central offices function properly,
which includes at least verification from multiple campus staff and
classroom locations that a notification can be issued and received
by the appropriately designated personnel, that the alert is successfully
broadcast to all campus staff and to appropriate law enforcement and
emergency responders, and that a potential threat observed on video
triggers an alert from video surveillance monitoring systems;
(v) all school telephone systems and communications
infrastructure provide accurate location information when a 9-1-1
call is made in accordance with state and federal laws and rules and
when an alert is triggered in accordance with this section;
(vi) all exterior master key boxes function properly
and the keys they contain function properly;
(vii) law enforcement and emergency responder two-way
radios operate effectively within each instructional facility; and
(viii) two-way radios used by school system peace officers,
school resource officers, or school marshals properly communicate
with local law enforcement and emergency response services.
(B) A school system shall ensure procedures are in
place to require that staff who become aware of a facility component
functionality deficiency that would be identified during the twice-yearly
maintenance review described by subparagraph (A) of this paragraph
immediately report the deficiency to the school system's administration,
regardless of the status of the twice-yearly maintenance review.
(C) A school system shall promptly remedy any deficiencies
discovered as a consequence of maintenance checks required by subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph or reports made under subparagraph (B) of this
paragraph.
(e) In implementing the requirements of this section,
school systems shall comply with the provisions of §61.1040(j)
of this title (relating to School Facilities Standards for Construction
on or after November 1, 2021).
(f) To the extent that any provisions of this section
conflict with rules adopted in Chapter 61, Subchapter CC, of this
title (relating to Commissioner's Rules Concerning School Facilities),
including terms defined by this section or standards established by
this section, the provisions of this section prevail.
(g) In implementing the requirements of this section,
school systems shall comply with the standards adopted under Texas
Government Code, §469.052.
(h) In implementing the requirements of this section,
school systems must adopt a 3-year records control schedule that complies
with the minimum requirements established by the Texas State Library
and Archives Commission schedule, record series item number 5.4.017,
as referenced in Texas Government Code, §441.169, and Texas Local
Government Code, §203.041.
(i) Certification.
(1) All requirements in subsections (c) and (d) of
this section shall be implemented during the 2022-2023 school year
and thereafter. Annually, a school system shall certify compliance
with those requirements as part of ongoing security audits under TEC, §37.108(b);
maintain the certification locally; and report as required by the
Texas School Safety Center. Any and all non-compliance shall be reported
to the school system's safety and security committee, the school system's
board, and the Texas School Safety Center, as required by TEC, §37.108(c).
(2) A school system may provisionally certify compliance
of a facility component described in subsection (c) of this section
that is not in compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1) of
this subsection if:
(A) the school system has taken the necessary steps
to initiate an upgrade of the facility component to ensure compliance;
and
(B) for the 2023-2024 school year, the contractor or
supplier has been procured and has provided a time frame when the
upgrade will be completed.
(3) TEA may modify rule requirements or grant provisional
certification for individual site needs as determined by the agency.
(j) Subsection (i)(2) of this section and this subsection
expire August 31, 2024.
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