Bill Text: MS HB959 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

Mississippi House Bill 959 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: Mississippi Study Committee on School Safety; create.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB959 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2013-HB959-Introduced.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2013 Regular Session

To: Education

By: Representative Hood

House Bill 959

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI STUDY COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL SAFETY; TO PRESCRIBE THE MEMBERSHIP OF THE STUDY COMMITTEE AND ITS DUTIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Mississippi Study Committee on School Safety to review and make recommendations to the Legislature on means by which school safety can be improved in order to provide children in Mississippi with the safest possible educational environment that fosters a secure and positive learning environment. The study committee shall be comprised of the following twenty-six (26) members:

(a) The State Superintendent of Public Education, or his designee;

(b) The Director of the Office of Safe and Orderly Schools within the State Department of Education;

(d) The Commissioner of Public Safety, or his designee;

(e) The Director of the Office of Youth Services of the Department of Human Services, or his designee;

(f) The Attorney General, or his designee;

(g) Six (6) representatives of law enforcement or other first responders, including at least one (1) representative of school resource officers, each appointed by the Governor, with two (2) members representing each state Supreme Court District;

(h) Six (6) representatives of elementary and secondary public schools in Mississippi, including a principal and teacher employed in a high school, middle school and elementary school, each appointed by the Governor, with two (2) members representing each state Supreme Court District;

(i) A school district superintendent appointed by the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents;

(j) A school board member appointed by the Mississippi School Boards Association;

(k) A parent from two (2) different families whose child or children currently are enrolled in a Mississippi elementary or secondary school, each appointed by the Governor;

(l) The Chairmen of the Education Committees of the Mississippi House of Representatives and Senate;

(m) A member of the Mississippi House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; and

(n) A member of the Mississippi Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.

(2) Appointments to the study committee must be made within thirty (30) days after the effective date of this act. The study committee shall hold its first meeting not later than August 1, 2013, with the date, time and location of the meeting to be designated by the Governor. At the first meeting, the study committee shall elect from among its membership a chairman, vice chairman and any other officers determined to be necessary, who must organize the study committee for business and determine the date, time and location of its next meeting.

(3) The study committee shall:

(a) Evaluate school safety audits that have been conducted in Mississippi schools and identify best practices that would be helpful to all schools;

(b) Recommend improvements to K through 12 school safety protocols and procedures to ensure an even safer learning

environment;

(c) Identify ways to improve and expand the use of school resource officers and school security officers in Mississippi's public schools;

(d) Study and make recommendations on the feasibility and desirability of maintaining armed security personnel on the campus of each public school;

(e) Study and make recommendations on the desirability of authorizing public school teachers who have received appropriate training to bear arms on school campus;

(f) Suggest additional resources, programs or tools that, if provided by the State Department of Education, would enhance safety in Mississippi's public schools;

(g) Recommend specifically needed improvements to campus safety policies or procedures at Mississippi's public schools;

(h) Examine current laws and regulations to identify gaps relating to school and campus safety and provide recommendations for statutory or budgetary amendments; and

(i) Review the recommendations set forth in previous state and national school safety reports and studies and provide strategies for the implementation of relevant, realistic recommendations that would enhance school safety.

(4) Members of the study committee shall serve without compensation for their services but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses in attending to the actual business of the study committee from any available funds. Legislative members must be reimbursed from the contingent expense fund of their respective house, but only with the specific approval of the Rules Committee of the respective house. The study committee, by approval of a majority of its membership, may accept funds that may be donated or provided in the form of grants from public or private sources.

(5) The State Department of Education shall provide the staff and other support necessary for the Mississippi Study Committee on School Safety to perform its duties. Any department, agency or court of this state, at the request of the chairman of the study committee, must cooperate with the study committee in the performance its duties.

(6) The study committee shall submit a written report setting forth its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature before January 1, 2014, at which time the study committee will be dissolved.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.