HOUSE BILL NO. 1726 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE COSTLOW.
5414H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To amend chapter 160, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to school safety and security standards.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 160, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be 2 known as section 160.672, to read as follows: 160.672. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean: 2 (1) "Attendance center", a public school building, public school buildings, or 3 part of a public school building that offers education in a grade or grades not higher 4 than grade twelve and that constitutes one unit for accountability and reporting 5 purposes for the department of elementary and secondary education. The term 6 includes, but is not limited to, real property, an improvement to real property, or a 7 necessary fixture of an improvement to real property that is used predominantly for 8 providing instruction to pupils. The term shall not be construed to include: 9 (a) Real property, improvements to real property, or necessary fixtures of an 10 improvement to real property that are part of a federal, state, or private correctional 11 facility or facility of an institution of higher education, medical provider, or other 12 provider of professional or social services over which a school district has no control; 13 (b) A private school, as defined in section 166.700; 14 (c) A home school, as defined in section 167.012; 15 (d) An FPE school, as defined in section 167.013; or 16 (e) A cooperative including pupils that attend a private school, home school, FPE 17 school, or any combination of such entities;
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 1726 2
18 (2) "Bullet-resistant security laminate", optically clear film that is resistant to 19 bullets, based on Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Standard 752 Bullet-Resisting 20 Equipment, and cannot be easily breached to allow an intruder to open or otherwise 21 proceed through; 22 (3) "Department", the department of elementary and secondary education; 23 (4) "Main front entry", doors, adjacent windows, vestibule areas, and other 24 similar points of entry at the front of an attendance center; 25 (5) "Other entry", doors, adjacent windows, and other similar points of entry to 26 an attendance center that are not at the front of the attendance center; 27 (6) "Riot-resistant security laminate", optically clear film that is at least thirty- 28 five one-thousandths of an inch thick, also known as thirty-five mil, that is resistant to 29 shattering and cannot be easily breached to allow an intruder to open or otherwise 30 proceed through. 31 2. This section shall apply to all attendance centers owned, operated, or leased 32 by a school district, regardless of the date of construction or date of lease. 33 3. Each attendance center shall have access points that are: 34 (1) Secured by design; 35 (2) Maintained to operate as intended; and 36 (3) Appropriately monitored. 37 4. Each school district shall implement the following safety and security 38 standards compliance requirements for all attendance centers owned, operated, or 39 leased by the school district: 40 (1) Each attendance center shall display graphically represented alphanumerical 41 characters on both the interior and exterior of each exterior door location. The 42 characters may be installed on the door, or on at least one door at locations where more 43 than one door leads from the exterior to the same room inside the facility, or on the wall 44 immediately adjacent to or above the door location. Characters shall comply with 45 Section 505 of the 2021 International Fire Code or its successor. The main front entry of 46 an attendance center shall always be the first in the entire sequence and shall be the only 47 door location that does not require numbering. The numbering sequence shall be 48 clockwise and may be sequenced for the entire campus or for each attendance center 49 individually. The door-numbering process shall comply with accessibility requirements 50 related to signage; 51 (2) Each main front entry shall: 52 (a) Meet standards for exterior doors; 53 (b) Include a method to allow an individual located within the building to 54 visually identify an individual seeking to enter the main front entry when the entrance is HB 1726 3
55 closed and locked including, but not limited to, windows, camera systems, intercoms, or 56 a combination of such methods; 57 (c) Feature a physical barrier that prevents unassisted access to the facility by a 58 visitor; and 59 (d) Feature a location for a visitor check-in and check-out process; 60 (3) Each exterior door shall: 61 (a) By default, be set to a closed, latched, and locked status, except that: 62 a. An exterior door may be unlocked if the door is actively monitored or within 63 an exterior secured area; and 64 b. Is a door designated in the school district's written emergency operations plan 65 or the equivalent as an exterior door that may be open for the purposes of ventilation 66 for specified periods of time if explicitly authorized by the state board of education in 67 the school facilities and safety criteria developed for the Missouri school improvement 68 program under section 160.660; 69 (b) Be constructed, both for the door and door frame and the components, of 70 materials and in a manner that makes it resistant to entry by intruders. Unless inside an 71 exterior secured area, doors constructed of glass or containing glass shall be constructed 72 or modified by means of installing security laminate to the existing glass with no 73 modifications to the door frame, such that the glass is riot-resistant when the area is 74 deemed an other entry area and bullet-resistant when the area is deemed a main front 75 entry area; 76 (c) Contain a mechanism that: 77 a. Fully closes and engages locking hardware automatically after entry or egress 78 without manual intervention, regardless of air pressure within or outside of the facility; 79 and 80 b. Allows the door to be opened from the inside when locked to allow for 81 emergency egress while remaining locked; and 82 (d) If keyed for reentry, be capable of being unlocked with a single master key or 83 a small set of master keys, whether a physical key, punch code, or key fob or similar 84 electronic key device; 85 (4) Except when inside an exterior secured area, classrooms with exterior entry 86 doors shall include a method to allow an individual located in the classroom to visually 87 identify an individual seeking to enter the classroom when the door is closed and locked 88 including, but not limited to, windows, camera systems, intercoms, or a combination of 89 such methods; 90 (5) Except when inside an exterior secured area, all windows that are adjacent to 91 an exterior door and that are greater than nine inches in height or width that, if broken, HB 1726 4
92 would permit an individual to enter the building or to reach in and open the door from 93 the inside shall be constructed of or modified with riot-resistant security laminate when 94 the area is deemed an other entry area and bullet-resistant security laminate when the 95 area is deemed a main front entry area so that such glass cannot be easily broken; 96 (6) Except when inside an exterior secured area, all ground-level windows within 97 seven feet of the foundation near exterior doors and that are greater than nine inches in 98 height or width that, if broken, would permit an individual to enter the building or to 99 reach in and open the door from the inside shall be constructed of or modified with riot- 100 resistant security laminate when the area is deemed an other entry area and bullet- 101 resistant security laminate when the area is deemed a main front entry area so that such 102 glass cannot be easily broken to allow an intruder to enter through the window frame; 103 (7) For an interior door with a lock that allows access to an internal room where 104 gatherings occur including, but not limited to, a classroom, a teacher's lounge, or 105 another similar interior space, each window on or adjacent to such interior door that, if 106 broken, would permit an individual to enter the room or to reach in and open the door 107 from the inside shall be constructed of or modified with riot-resistant security laminate; 108 (8) If designed to be opened, all ground-level windows shall have functional 109 locking mechanisms that allow for the windows to be locked from the inside and, if large 110 enough for an individual to enter when opened or if adjacent to a door, be closed and 111 locked when school district employees are not present; 112 (9) Each roof access door shall default to a locked, latched, and closed position 113 when not actively in use and be lockable from the interior; 114 (10) Each attendance center shall include one exterior secure master key box 115 designed to permit emergency access to both law enforcement agencies and emergency 116 responders from the exterior at a location designated by the local authorities with 117 applicable jurisdiction; 118 (11) Each attendance center shall implement a communications infrastructure as 119 required in this section; and 120 (12) Each school district shall implement the following as provided in this 121 section: 122 (a) A system of ongoing auditing of building access; 123 (b) An exterior door numbering site plan; and 124 (c) A security component maintenance plan. 125 5. The system of ongoing auditing of building access required under subdivision 126 (12) of subsection 4 of this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following 127 requirements: HB 1726 5
128 (1) Conduct at least weekly inspections during school hours of all exterior doors 129 of each attendance center to certify that all doors are, by default, set to a closed, latched, 130 and locked status and cannot be opened from the outside without a key as required in 131 subdivision (3) of subsection 4 of this section; 132 (2) Report the findings of weekly inspections required in subdivision (1) of this 133 subsection to the school district and ensure the results are kept for review as part of 134 school facilities and safety criteria developed for the Missouri school improvement 135 program under section 160.660; 136 (3) Report the findings of weekly inspections required in subdivision (1) of this 137 subsection to the administration of the attendance center to ensure awareness of any 138 deficiencies identified and identify who must take action to reduce the likelihood of 139 similar deficiencies in the future; and 140 (4) A provision in the school district's applicable policy stating that nothing in a 141 school district's access control procedures shall be interpreted as discouraging parents, 142 once properly verified as authorized attendance center visitors, from visiting attendance 143 centers they are authorized to visit. 144 6. The exterior door numbering site plan required under subdivision (12) of 145 subsection 4 of this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following 146 requirements: 147 (1) The school district shall develop and maintain an accurate site layout and 148 exterior door designation document for each attendance center that identifies all 149 exterior doors in the attendance center and depicts all exterior doors on a floor plan 150 with an alphanumeric designation, in accordance with the door numbering 151 specifications established in subdivision (1) of subsection 4 of this section; 152 (2) Each attendance center main office shall maintain readily available copies of 153 the exterior door numbering site plan; and 154 (3) Each attendance center shall supply electronic copies of exterior door 155 numbering site plans to the entity providing 911 emergency telephone service so that the 156 site plans can be made available to emergency responders by 911 emergency medical 157 dispatchers. 158 7. The security component maintenance plan required under subdivision (12) of 159 subsection 4 of this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following 160 requirements: 161 (1) The school district shall perform at least twice-yearly maintenance checks to 162 ensure the attendance center security components function as required. The 163 maintenance checks shall ensure at least the following: HB 1726 6
164 (a) Attendance center exterior doors function properly and meet the 165 requirements of this section; 166 (b) The locking mechanism for any ground-level windows that can be opened 167 functions properly; 168 (c) All perimeter barriers and related gates function properly; 169 (d) All panic alert or similar emergency notification systems in classrooms and 170 attendance center central offices function properly, which includes at least verification 171 from multiple attendance center employees and classroom locations that a notification 172 can be issued and received by the appropriately designated employees, that the alert is 173 successfully broadcast to all attendance center employees and to appropriate law 174 enforcement agencies and emergency responders, and that a potential threat observed 175 on video triggers an alert from video surveillance monitoring systems; 176 (e) All telephones report location services properly when engaging 911 177 emergency telephone service systems; 178 (f) All exterior master key boxes function properly, and the keys they contain 179 function properly; and 180 (g) Two-way radios used by school district school protection officers or school 181 resource officers properly communicate with local law enforcement agencies and 182 emergency responders; 183 (2) The school district shall ensure procedures are in place to require that 184 employees who become aware of a security component functionality deficiency that 185 would be identified during the twice yearly maintenance review described by 186 subdivision (1) of this subsection report, in a timely manner, the deficiency to the 187 school district and the attendance center's administration, regardless of the status of the 188 twice yearly maintenance review; and 189 (3) The school district shall promptly remedy any deficiencies discovered as a 190 consequence of maintenance checks required by or reports made under this section. 191 8. (1) Each school district shall implement the requirements of subsections 3 to 7 192 of this section for the 2027-28 school year and all subsequent school years. 193 (2) Each school district shall upgrade existing attendance center security 194 laminate that does not comply with this section to riot-resistant security laminate for 195 each area deemed an other entry area and bullet-resistant security laminate for each 196 area deemed a main front entry area, as appropriate, before July 1, 2027. 197 (3) Each school district shall annually certify compliance with the requirements 198 of subsections 3 to 7 of this section as part of the ongoing audits of building access 199 required in subsection 5 of this section and maintain the certification with the HB 1726 7
200 department and local law enforcement agencies. Any noncompliance with subsections 3 201 to 7 of this section shall be reported to the department and the school board. 202 (4) Each school district may provisionally certify compliance of an attendance 203 center security component that is not in compliance with subdivision (2) of this 204 subsection if: 205 (a) The school district has taken the necessary steps to initiate an upgrade of the 206 attendance center security component to ensure compliance; and 207 (b) For the 2027-28 school year, the contractor or supplier has been procured 208 and has provided a schedule for when the upgrade will be completed. 209 (5) Each school district shall choose a contractor to install bullet-resistant 210 security laminate and riot-resistant security laminate before July 1, 2027. 211 9. (1) There is hereby created in the state treasury the "School Safety and 212 Security Matching Grant Fund", which shall consist of moneys appropriated under 213 subsection 10 of this section. The state treasurer shall be custodian of the fund. In 214 accordance with sections 30.170 and 30.180, the state treasurer may approve 215 disbursements. The fund shall be a dedicated fund and, upon appropriation, moneys 216 in this fund shall be used solely for making matching grants for school safety and 217 security projects as provided in this section. 218 (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 33.080 to the contrary, any moneys 219 remaining in the fund at the end of the biennium shall not revert to the credit of the 220 general revenue fund. 221 (3) The state treasurer shall invest moneys in the fund in the same manner as 222 other funds are invested. Any interest and moneys earned on such investments shall be 223 credited to the fund. 224 10. There is hereby created the "School Safety and Security Matching Grant 225 Program". The general assembly may appropriate moneys to the school safety and 226 security matching grant fund created in this section. The department shall not be 227 required to provide moneys for matching grants under this section if no appropriation 228 for such grants is made by the general assembly. The total amount appropriated to such 229 fund in a fiscal year shall not exceed the amount necessary to provide matching grants 230 to assist each school district in completing eligible projects under this section in such 231 fiscal year. 232 11. (1) For the 2027-28 school year and each subsequent school year and subject 233 to the appropriation of moneys to the school safety and security matching grant fund, 234 each school district may apply to the department for a matching grant of moneys from 235 the school safety and security matching grant fund to assist such district in completing 236 school safety and security projects under this section. HB 1726 8
237 (2) Applications for such sc