Schools must conduct at least one safety-related drill per month and must teach students basic functional drill responses for shelter-in-place, lockdown, and evacuation, which are defined as follows:
The drills should also incorporate an earthquake drill. Schools in mapped lahars or tsunami hazard zones must include a pedestrian evacuation drill.
Schools are prohibited from conducting lockdown drills that include live simulations of or reenactments of active shooter scenarios that are not trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.
The substitute bill removes language specifying that safety-related drills conducted by schools may not be based on active shooter scenarios. It instead specifies that lockdown drills may not include live simulations of or reenactments of active shooter scenarios that are not trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.
(In support) Active shooter drills increase depression, anxiety, and fear of death for children and parents, and can cause unnecessary stress and trauma to students and staff. Active shooter drills do not prevent school shootings or protect school communities if a shooting occurs. There is no empirical research supporting the benefits of school-based armed assailant drills with a sensorial experience, but typical lockdown drills without a sensorial experience do have benefits. The bill should include requirements about notifying families prior to drills and specifying developmentally appropriate and trauma-informed content within the drills.
(Opposed) Dangerous intruders are the threat most likely to cause real harm to students. Active shooter situations can be over before law enforcement responds, particularly in rural areas. Staff and students need to know how to respond in those situations. Active shooter drills can use age-appropriate content and can be carried out by staff that students trust.
(Other) Students and staff feel safer when they have information about what to do in emergency situations, including lockdowns, and when they have practiced some scenarios. Students should not be traumatized by active shooter drills. Conversations around comprehensive school safety planning should continue. The bill should clarify that active shooter drills must avoid simulations and should include prior notice to families, students, and staff, and that content should be trauma-informed and age and developmentally appropriate.