2018 Revised Code of Washington
Title 28A - COMMON SCHOOL PROVISIONS
28A.320 Provisions applicable to all districts.
28A.320.125 Safe school plans—Requirements—Duties of school districts, schools, and educational service districts—Reports—Drills—Rules.

RCW 28A.320.125 Safe school plans—Requirements—Duties of school districts, schools, and educational service districts—Reports—Drills—Rules.

(1) The legislature considers it to be a matter of public safety for public schools and staff to have current safe school plans and procedures in place, fully consistent with federal law. The legislature further finds and intends, by requiring safe school plans to be in place, that school districts will become eligible for federal assistance. The legislature further finds that schools are in a position to serve the community in the event of an emergency resulting from natural disasters or man-made disasters.

(2) Schools and school districts shall consider the guidance provided by the superintendent of public instruction, including the comprehensive school safety checklist and the model comprehensive safe school plans that include prevention, intervention, all hazard/crisis response, and postcrisis recovery, when developing their own individual comprehensive safe school plans. Each school district shall adopt, no later than September 1, 2008, and implement a safe school plan consistent with the school mapping information system pursuant to RCW 36.28A.060. The plan shall:

(a) Include required school safety policies and procedures;

(b) Address emergency mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery;

(c) Include provisions for assisting and communicating with students and staff, including those with special needs or disabilities;

(d) Use the training guidance provided by the Washington emergency management division of the state military department in collaboration with the Washington state office of the superintendent of public instruction school safety center and the school safety center advisory committee;

(e) Require the building principal to be certified on the incident command system;

(f) Take into account the manner in which the school facilities may be used as a community asset in the event of a community-wide emergency; and

(g) Set guidelines for requesting city or county law enforcement agencies, local fire departments, emergency service providers, and county emergency management agencies to meet with school districts and participate in safety-related drills.

(3) To the extent funds are available, school districts shall annually:

(a) Review and update safe school plans in collaboration with local emergency response agencies;

(b) Conduct an inventory of all hazardous materials;

(c) Update information on the school mapping information system to reflect current staffing and updated plans, including:

(i) Identifying all staff members who are trained on the national incident management system, trained on the incident command system, or are certified on the incident command system; and

(ii) Identifying school transportation procedures for evacuation, to include bus staging areas, evacuation routes, communication systems, parent-student reunification sites, and secondary transportation agreements consistent with the school mapping information system; and

(d) Provide information to all staff on the use of emergency supplies and notification and alert procedures.

(4) To the extent funds are available, school districts shall annually record and report on the information and activities required in subsection (3) of this section to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs.

(5) School districts are encouraged to work with local emergency management agencies and other emergency responders to conduct one tabletop exercise, one functional exercise, and two full-scale exercises within a four-year period.

(6)(a) Due to geographic location, schools have unique safety challenges. It is the responsibility of school principals and administrators to assess the threats and hazards most likely to impact their school, and to practice three basic functional drills, shelter-in-place, lockdown, and evacuation, as these drills relate to those threats and hazards. Some threats or hazards may require the use of more than one basic functional drill.

(b) Schools shall conduct at least one safety-related drill per month, including summer months when school is in session with students. These drills must teach students three basic functional drill responses:

(i) "Shelter-in-place," used to limit the exposure of students and staff to hazardous materials, such as chemical, biological, or radiological contaminants, released into the environment by isolating the inside environment from the outside;

(ii) "Lockdown," used to isolate students and staff from threats of violence, such as suspicious trespassers or armed intruders, that may occur in a school or in the vicinity of a school; and

(iii) "Evacuation," used to move students and staff away from threats, such as fires, oil train spills, or tsunamis.

(c) The drills described in (b) of this subsection must incorporate the following requirements:

(i) Use of the school mapping information system in at least one of the safety-related drills; and

(ii) A pedestrian evacuation drill for schools in mapped tsunami hazard zones.

(d) The drills described in (b) of this subsection may incorporate an earthquake drill using the state-approved earthquake safety technique "drop, cover, and hold."

(e) Schools shall document the date, time, and type (shelter-in-place, lockdown, or evacuate) of each drill required under this subsection (6), and maintain the documentation in the school office.

(f) This subsection (6) is intended to satisfy all federal requirements for comprehensive school emergency drills and evacuations.

(7) Educational service districts are encouraged to apply for federal emergency response and crisis management grants with the assistance of the superintendent of public instruction and the Washington emergency management division of the state military department.

(8) The superintendent of public instruction may adopt rules to implement provisions of this section. These rules may include, but are not limited to, provisions for evacuations, lockdowns, or other components of a comprehensive safe school plan.

[ 2017 c 165 § 1; 2013 c 14 § 1; 2009 c 578 § 10; 2007 c 406 § 1; 2002 c 205 § 2.]

NOTES:

Findings—2002 c 205: "Following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, the government's primary role in protecting the health, safety, and well-being of its citizens has been underscored. The legislature recognizes that there is a need to focus on the development and implementation of comprehensive safe school plans for each public school. The legislature recognizes that comprehensive safe school plans for each public school are an integral part of rebuilding public confidence. In developing these plans, the legislature finds that a coordinated effort is essential to ensure the most effective response to any type of emergency. Further, the legislature recognizes that comprehensive safe school plans for each public school are of paramount importance and will help to assure students, parents, guardians, school employees, and school administrators that our schools provide the safest possible learning environment." [ 2002 c 205 § 1.]

Severability—2002 c 205: "If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected." [ 2002 c 205 § 5.]

Effective dates—2002 c 205 §§ 2, 3, and 4: "(1) Sections 2 and 4 of this act are necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and take effect immediately [March 27, 2002].

(2) Section 3 of this act takes effect September 1, 2002." [ 2002 c 205 § 6.]