SPONSOR:	Rep. Scott & Rep. Mitchell & Sen. Sokola
	Reps. Gray, Heffernan, Jaques; Sen. Lopez

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

147th GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HOUSE BILL NO. 340

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE OMNIBUS SCHOOL SAFETY ACT.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend Section 8237, Title 29 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:

§ 8237 Omnibus School Safety Act.

(c) Duties and responsibilities of Department. — The Department, by and through the Secretary, shall have overall operational responsibility for the implementation of the act. In connection therewith, the Department's duties and responsibilities shall include but not be limited to:

(7) Ensuring that the act is fully implemented and operational by September 10, 20172014.

(f) Critical incident and tabletop exercises; revisions to CSSPs. —

(1) Each school and district, through its school safety team, shall collaborate with the Department and any relevant first responders to conduct at least 1 critical incident or emergency event exercise each year, and at least 1 tabletop exercise every 2 years year, and at least 2 lockdown/intruder drills per school year. Such exercises shall assess emergency readiness as well as the effectiveness of the existing CSSP, and shall include such members of the school safety team, first responders and such other stakeholders as shall be appropriate. Exercises may also be utilized to identify gaps in the CSSP, assess and improve performance, test equipment and technology, and develop robust community and first responder resolve to prepare for major incidents.

(2) Following any exercise hereunder, a school or district may shall submit to the Department verification of the exercise and proposed revisions or updates to its CSSP. However, nothing herein shall limit the ability of schools or districts to submit to the Department proposed revisions or updates to CSSPs at any other time during the year. Proposed revisions or updates shall be reviewed and approved by the Department in accordance with procedures established by regulation the Department.

SYNOPSIS

These amendments to the Omnibus School Safety Act changes the date that schools are to be in compliance with the Act to September 2014 instead of September 2017. In addition, the amendment changes the requirement of school districts to conduct full scale exercises annually and table top exercises bi-annually. The new language requires schools to conduct tabletop exercises every year and at least two lockdown/intruder drills per school year. Finally, schools are required to submit verification of the exercises to the Department of Homeland Security.