Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
STUDENT HEALTH AND SAFETY
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
REQUIREMENTS FOR SCHOOLS
Analysis available at
House Bill 4089 as introduced http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Sponsor: Rep. Luke Meerman
House Bill 4092 as introduced House Bill 4096 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Nancy DeBoer Sponsor: Rep. Ranjeev Puri
House Bill 4095 as introduced House Bill 5549 as introduced
Sponsor: Rep. Stephanie A. Young Sponsor: Rep. Kelly Breen
House Committee: Education
Complete to 3-19-24
SUMMARY:
House Bill 4089 would amend the Revised School Code to create the School Safety and Mental
Health Commission and provide for its membership, procedures, and duties.
Membership
The bill would create the School Safety and Mental Health Commission in the Department of
Education (MDE). The commission would consist of the following nine members:
• The following appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives:
o One member with experience in school mental health.
o One member with a background in law enforcement.
o One member who is a parent.
• The following appointed by the Senate majority leader:
o One member who is a school psychologist or school psychiatrist.
o One member who is a prosecutor.
o One member who is a teacher.
• The following appointed by the governor:
o One member with a background in school administration.
o One member with experience in school threat assessments.
o One member with experience in providing inpatient treatment to minors.
Procedures
Members would serve four-year terms. Vacancies would be filled for the balance of the term
in the same manner as the original appointment. The governor could remove a member of the
commission for incompetence, dereliction of duty, malfeasance or nonfeasance in office, or
any other good cause. Members would not be entitled to compensation for serving on the
commission, but could be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in doing so.
The commission would have to meet at least monthly. A majority of commission members
would constitute a quorum, and a vote of the majority of members serving would be required
for commission action. Commission business would have to be conducted in compliance with
the Open Meetings Act. A writing prepared, owned, used, possessed, or retained by the
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 commission in performing an official function would be subject to the Freedom of Information
Act. The commission could hire an executive director and staff.
Duties
The commission would have to do all of the following:
• Collaborate with state agencies and other entities, including MDE and the Office of
School Safety in the Department of State Police (MSP), to reduce youth suicides and
strengthen the mental health of school-aged children, adolescents, and their families in
a comprehensive, statewide approach.
• Seek input from organizations and educational and mental health professionals from
across Michigan to identify and support students at risk for behavioral health issues.
• Collaborate with the Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission on recommendations
regarding youth suicide.
• Engage in public awareness efforts regarding mental health issues and resources, host
professional trainings, and create and maintain an online community through which
best practices and resources can be shared.
• Work with mental health coordinators and civilian school safety specialists as
described in section 1308g of the code and act as a liaison for the coordinators and
managers to facilitate and aid the communication of best practices. (Section 1308g
would be added to the Revised School Code by House Bill 4097.)
• Review possible uses of and make recommendations for the use of funding under
section 97 of the State School Aid Act 1 and provide an analysis of the effectiveness of
programs, products, and vendors that have received or will receive funding under that
section. (Section 97 of the School Aid Act allocated $168.0 million for the 2022-23
fiscal year only to provide payments to school districts and nonpublic schools for
activities to improve school safety. However, the section was repealed at the beginning
of the 2023-24 fiscal year.)
• Convey recommendations to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs
(LARA) and the Bureau of Construction Codes concerning building construction that
is consistent with school safety needs.
Proposed MCL 380.1308h
House Bill 4092 would amend 2018 PA 435, which created the Office of School Safety, by
requiring that the office, in conjunction with MSP, notify the emergency and safety manager
of an intermediate school district (ISD) of a tip received relating to a school within that ISD as
soon as possible or within 24 hours after receiving that tip. The county sheriff or local law
enforcement agency that serves the area where the school is located would also have to be
notified within the same time frame.
Tip would mean a report or other information from the public regarding potential harm
or self-harm or criminal acts directed at schools, school students, or school employees
in Michigan, received through the OK2SAY program or a successor program, through
the 9-1-1 system, or through any other system or program used to report tips.
1
http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-388-1697
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 OK2SAY program would mean the state’s student safety program that allows students
to confidentially report tips on potential harm or criminal activities directed at students,
school employees, and schools. 2
School would mean a public, private, denominational, or parochial school offering
developmental kindergarten, kindergarten, or any grade from 1 through 12, regardless
of whether school is in session, and would include all school property.
School student would mean an individual who is enrolled as a student in a school,
regardless of whether school is in session.
School employee would mean a full- or part-time employee of a school, school district,
or ISD, regardless of whether school is in session, including a school administrator; a
volunteer with a school, school district, or ISD; or any other individual who provides
services to a school, school district, or ISD while on school property.
The bill could not take effect unless House Bills 4089, 4097, 4099, and 4100 were all also
enacted.
Proposed MCL 28.682
House Bills 4095 and 4096 would amend the Revised School Code to require MSP to develop
a standardized response terminology plan to provide direction for terminology that should be
used by schools in response to certain situations and to require the governing bodies of public
and nonpublic schools to adopt and implement the plan.
House Bill 4096 would require MSP, by July 1, 2024, to promulgate rules establishing a
standardized response terminology plan and to provide the plan to public and nonpublic
schools. The plan would have to include at least all of the following:
• Direction concerning terminology that should be used by schools in response to certain
situations that occur in or at their school buildings, including at least the following:
o Lockdown should be used when there is an existing threat in or at a school
building or a threat is expecting to arrive there imminently.
o Secure mode should be used when it is determined that a lockdown is not
necessary but heightened security is needed because of a potential external
threat. Under secure mode, instruction would have to continue in a normal
manner, but access to the school building, movement throughout the building,
and student activities would have to be limited and monitored.
o Shelter in place should be used when conditions are safer inside a school
building than they are outside the building. These conditions would include
such things as certain sever weather conditions or hazardous materials
incidents that are in close proximity to the school building.
2
The program is created under the Student Safety Act: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/mcl/pdf/mcl-Act-
183-of-2013.pdf
For more information, see https://www.michigan.gov/ok2say and https://www.michigan.gov/ok2say/-
/media/Project/Websites/ok2say/2022/PDFs/OK2SAY_FAQs_Principal.pdf
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 o Reverse evacuation should be used when students and school staff need to
move rapidly but systematically from an outdoor area to an indoor area where
they can be protected from a threat.
o Room clear should be used when students need to be evacuated from a specific
place in a school building to a safer place in the building to protect them from
harm or to allow school staff and first responders to address an incident.
• Direction providing that all public and nonpublic schools should be in “secure mode”
as described above when instruction is being provided.
• Direction concerning the use of a color-coding system to indicate when the terminology
described above should be in use at a public or nonpublic school.
School building would mean a building intended for providing instruction or a
recreational or athletic structure or field intended for student use.
Proposed MCL 380.1308c
House Bill 4095 would require the board of a school district or ISD, the board of directors of
a public school academy (PSA, or charter school), or the governing body of a nonpublic school
to ensure that it adopts and implements the standardized response terminology plan established
under House Bill 4096.
House Bill 4095 would not take effect unless HB 4096 were also enacted.
Proposed MCL 380.1308d
House Bill 5549 would amend the Revised School Code to require that the board of each public
school have a behavior threat assessment and management team and provide for individuals
who should serve on that team.
A threat assessment and management team would have to include at least the following
individuals:
• A school administrator, who would be responsible for ensuring that the behavior threat
assessment and management team fulfills its duties (as described below).
• A mental health professional.
• A school resource officer or other law enforcement official.
Mental health professional would mean an individual who is trained and experienced
in the area of mental illness or developmental disabilities and is one of the following
as authorized under the Public Health Code:
• A physician.
• A psychologist.
• A licensed or authorized registered professional nurse.
• A licensed master’s social worker.
• A licensed professional counselor.
• A marriage and family therapist.
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 The duties of the team would include at least all of the following:
• Defining prohibited and concerning behavior and educating the school community on
when someone is at risk for potential harm to themselves or others.
• Monitoring, assessing, and performing inquiries into concerning behavior.
• Distinguishing between credible and noncredible threats.
• Developing a central reporting mechanism and educating students, parents, legal
guardians, and school personnel on how to report concerning behavior and what is
appropriate to report.
• Outlining the relationship between school personnel and law enforcement and
determining the threshold for when a situation requires the intervention of law
enforcement.
• Developing a written plan to assist a student who is engaging in concerning behavior.
The plan would have to consider using supportive measures in addition to any punitive
measures imposed.
Supportive measures would mean interventions involving school-based and
community-based support structures that focus on building resiliency and protecting
the student while also addressing any safety concerns.
Proposed MCL 380.1308c
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 4089 would create costs for the state and would have no fiscal impact on school
districts, intermediate school districts ISDs, or PSAs.
The Michigan Department of Education would incur costs to create the School Safety and
Mental Health Commission within the department. A similar commission of the same name
was created under section 97e of the School Aid Act in the FY 2022-23 budget. Originally
housed within MDE and funded at $2.0 million one-time GF/GP, the FY 2023-24 budget made
several boilerplate revisions, including housing the commission under Wayne RESA rather
than MDE, and appropriated another $2.0 million in one-time funding, revised from GF/GP to
School Aid Fund. House Bill 4089 allows, but does not require, members of the commission
to be reimbursed for costs incurred and allows, but does not require, the hiring of an executive
director and staff. These allowable uses are also included for the commission created under
section 97e. Funds are not limited to these purposes, nor does the bill require funding to be
appropriated.
In addition, there is a School Safety Commission within the MSP Office of School Safety. The
Office of School Safety would incur no additional costs from the bill.
House Bill 4092 would have no fiscal impact on the state or on school districts, ISDs, or PSAs.
House Bills 4095 and 4096 would have no substantial fiscal impact on the Department of State
Police, as existing resources could fulfill its responsibilities as added by the bills. The bills
could create minimal costs for school districts, ISDs, and PSAs to adopt and implement the
standardized response terminology plan. These costs would likely be absorbed using existing
staff time.
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 House Bill 5549 would have no fiscal impact on the state and could create minimal costs for
school districts, ISDs, and PSAs to operate a behavior threat assessment and management team
for each school. These costs would likely be absorbed using existing staff time.
Legislative Analyst: Josh Roesner
Fiscal Analysts: Jacqueline Mullen
Noel Benson
Michael Cnossen
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
House Fiscal Agency HBs 4089, 4092, 4095, 4096, and 5549 as introduced Page 6 of 6


Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 380.1, 380.1852