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Sub. H. B. No. 178 As Reported by the House Education CommitteeAs Reported by the House Education Committee
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Hayes, Mallory, Strahorn, Reece, Fedor, Heard, Antonio, Bishoff
A BILL
To amend section 3737.73 of the Revised Code with
respect to school safety drills.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 3737.73 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3737.73. (A) No principal or person in charge of a
public or private school or educational institution having an
average daily attendance of twenty or more pupils, and no person
in charge of any children's home or orphanage housing twenty or
more minor persons, shall willfully neglect to instruct and train
such children by means of drills or rapid dismissals, so that such
children in a sudden emergency may leave the building in the
shortest possible time without confusion. The Except as provided
for in division (F) of this section, the principal or person in
charge of a school or educational institution shall conduct drills
or rapid dismissals at least nine six times during the school
year, pursuant to division (E) of this section, which shall be at
the times and frequency prescribed in rules adopted by the fire
marshal. However, no drill or rapid dismissal under this division
need be conducted in any month that a school safety drill required
under division (D) of this section is conducted as long as a total
of nine drills or rapid dismissals under this division are
conducted in the school year. The principal or person in charge of
a children's home or orphanage shall conduct drills or rapid
dismissals at least once each month while the home is in
operation. In the case of schools, no principal or person in
charge of a school shall willfully neglect to keep the doors and
exits of such building unlocked during school hours. The fire
marshal may order the immediate installation of necessary fire
gongs or signals in such schools, institutions, or children's
homes and enforce this division and divisions (B) and, (C)(3), and
(F) of this section.
(B) In conjunction with the drills or rapid dismissals
required by division (A) or (F) of this section, whichever is
applicable, principals or persons in charge of public or private
primary and secondary schools, or educational institutions, shall
instruct pupils in safety precautions to be taken in case of a
tornado alert or warning. Such principals or persons in charge of
such schools or institutions shall designate, in accordance with
standards prescribed by the fire marshal, appropriate locations to
be used to shelter pupils in case of a tornado, tornado alert, or
warning.
(C)(1) The fire marshal or the fire marshal's designee shall
annually inspect each school, institution, home, or orphanage
subject to division (A) or (F) of this section to determine
compliance with that the applicable division, and each school or
institution subject to division (B) of this section to ascertain
whether the locations comply with the standards prescribed under
that division. Nothing in this section shall require a school or
institution to construct or improve a facility or location for use
as a shelter area.
(2) The fire marshal or the fire marshal's designee shall
issue a warning to any person found in violation of division (A)
or, (B), or (F) of this section. The warning shall indicate the
specific violation and a date by which such violation shall be
corrected.
(3) No person shall fail to correct violations by the date
indicated on a warning issued under division (C)(2) of this
section.
(D)(1) On or before April 1, 2007, and on or before each
first day of December thereafter, the (a) The principal or person
in charge of each public or private school or educational
institution shall conduct a school safety drill drills at least
three times during the school year, pursuant to division (E) of
this section, to provide pupils with instruction in the procedures
to follow in situations where pupils must be secured in the school
building, such as or rapidly evacuated in response to a threat to
the school involving an act of terrorism; a person possessing a
deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance, as defined in section 2923.11
of the Revised Code, on school property; or other act of violence.
At least one safety drill shall include a scenario where pupils
must be secured in the school building rather than rapidly
evacuated.
Each safety drill shall be conducted in conjunction with the
police chief or other similar chief law enforcement officer, or
designee, of the municipal corporation, township, or township or
joint police district in which the school or institution is
located, or, in absence of any such person, the county sheriff of
the county, or designee, in which the school or institution is
located.
(b) In addition to the three safety drills described in
division (D)(1)(a) of this section, the principal or person in
charge shall conduct a theoretical school safety drill at least
once during the school year to provide all faculty and staff
employed by the school or institution with instruction in the
procedures to follow in such situations. The theoretical drill
does not need to include student participation and may be
conducted at the annual training session required by division
(D)(3) of this section.
(c) All safety drills required under division (D) of this
section shall be conducted pursuant to the district's or school's
comprehensive school safety plan adopted under section 3313.536 of
the Revised Code.
(2)(a) The principal or person in charge of each public or
private school or educational institution shall provide to the
police chief or other similar chief law enforcement officer of the
municipal corporation, township, or township or joint police
district in which the school or institution is located, or, in
absence of any such person, the county sheriff of the county in
which the school or institution is located advance written notice
of each school safety drill required under division (D)(1) of this
section and shall keep a written record of the date and time of
each drill conducted. The advance notice shall be provided not
later than seventy-two hours prior to the date the drill will be
conducted and shall include the date and time the drill will be
conducted and the address of the school or educational
institution. The notice shall be provided by mail, facsimile, or
electronic submission.
(b) Not later than April 5, 2007, and not later than the
fifth day of December each year thereafter, the principal or
person in charge of each public or private school or educational
institution shall provide written certification by mail,
facsimile, or electronic submission of the date and time each
school safety drill required under division (D)(1) of this section
was conducted during the previous school year, as well as the date
and time each drill will be conducted during the current school
year, to the police chief or other similar chief law enforcement
officer of the municipal corporation, township, or township or
joint police district in which the school or institution is
located, or, in the absence of any such person, the county sheriff
of the county in which the school or institution is located. If
such certification is not provided, the principal or person in
charge of the school or institution shall be considered to have
failed to conduct the drill meet this requirement and shall be
subject to division (D)(4) of this section.
(3) The principal or person in charge of each public or
private school or educational institution shall hold annual
training sessions for employees of the school or institution
regarding the conduct of school safety drills.
(4) The police chief or other similar chief law enforcement
officer of a municipal corporation, township, or township or joint
police district, or, in the absence of any such person, the county
sheriff shall issue a warning to any person found in violation of
division (D)(1) of this section. Each warning issued for a
violation of division (D)(1) of this section shall require the
principal or person in charge of the school or institution to
correct the violation by conducting the a school safety drill not
later than the thirtieth day after the date the warning is issued.
The violation shall not be considered corrected unless, not later
than forty days after the date the warning is issued, the
principal or person in charge of the school or institution
provides written certification of the date and time the this drill
was conducted, as well as the date and time each remaining drill
will be conducted during the current school year, to the police
chief or other similar chief law enforcement officer or county
sheriff who issued the warning.
(5) No person shall fail to correct violations by the date
indicated on a warning issued under division (D)(4) of this
section.
(E) The principal or person in charge of each public or
private school or educational institution shall conduct at least
one drill or rapid dismissal required under division (A) or (F) of
this section, whichever is applicable, or one school safety drill
required under division (D) of this section during each month of
the school year. However, the principal or person in charge may
determine the exact date and time that each drill will be
conducted. A drill or rapid dismissal under division (A) or (F) of
this section may be conducted during the same month as a school
safety drill under division (D) of this section.
(F) If a public or private school or educational institution
does not currently have smoke detectors, as defined in section
3781.104 of the Revised Code, or a sprinkler system in all classroom buildings of the
school, the principal or person in charge of the school or
educational institution shall conduct drills or rapid dismissals
at least nine times during the school year, pursuant to division
(E) of this section, which shall be at the times and frequency
prescribed in rules adopted by the fire marshal. At the discretion
of the principal or person in charge of the school or institution,
drills conducted under this division may be combined with drills
conducted under division (D) of this section, so long as at least
one drill conducted under that division provides pupils with
instruction in the procedures to follow in situations where pupils
must be secured in the school building rather than rapidly
evacuated.
Section 2. That existing section 3737.73 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
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