Act No. 29 Page 1 of 2
2023
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the General Assembly. It
is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be exhaustive. It has been prepared by the
staff of the Office of Legislative Counsel without input from members of the General Assembly. It is not
intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 29 (S. 138). An act relating to school safety
Subjects: Education; school safety; harassment, hazing, and bullying
Secs. 1–5 of this act add several requirements to 16 V.S.A. chapter 33 (Fire and
Emergency Preparedness Drills and Safety Patrols) regarding emergency preparedness
and operations plans and drills, visitor policies, and behavioral threat assessment teams.
• Sec. 1 of this act amends 16 V.S.A. § 1481, requiring all school districts that
operate a school and all independent schools to adopt and maintain a policy
mandating each school site to conduct options-based response drills twice a
school year, relying on guidance issued by the Vermont School Safety Center
and Vermont School Crisis Planning Team.
• Sec. 2 of this act requires each supervisory union or district and each
independent school to adopt and maintain an all-hazards emergency operations
plan for each school site that is at least as comprehensive as the template
maintained by the Vermont School Safety Center.
• Sec. 3 of this act requires each supervisory union board, supervisory district
board, school district board, and independent school to adopt an access control
and visitor management policy.
• Sec. 4 of this act requires the Secretary of Education, in consultation with
stakeholder groups, to develop a model behavioral threat assessment team
policy and procedures. The Vermont School Safety Center is required to issue
guidance on best practices of behavioral threat assessment teams. Each school
district and each independent school is then required to develop, adopt, and
ensure implementation of a behavioral threat assessment policy and procedures
at least as comprehensive as the model policy and procedures published by the
Secretary by July 1, 2025, subject to the implementation requirements in Sec.
5. Behavioral threat assessment teams are required to receive training at least
annually and data related to the teams is required to be reported to the Agency
of Education annually.
• Sec. 5 of this act provides target dates for implementing behavioral threat
assessment teams, including the development of the model policy,
establishment and training of behavioral threat assessment teams, and data
reporting. This section also requires status reports on the implementation of
behavioral threat assessment teams and a report with any recommended
legislative changes resulting from policy development work.
VT LEG #370899 v.2
Act No. 29 Page 2 of 2
2023
Sec. 5a of this act creates the Working Group on Student Protections from Harassment
and Discrimination in Schools to study and give recommendations for how to address
harassment and discrimination experienced by students in schools. The Working Group
is required to issue a report with its findings and recommendations on or before
December 1, 2023.
Effective Date: Multiple effective dates, beginning on July 1, 2023
VT LEG #370899 v.2


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 16-1481
As Passed By the Senate -- Official: 16-1481
As Passed By the Senate -- Unofficial: 16-1481
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 16-1481
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 16-1481
As Enacted: 16-1481