Title 29. Military, Naval, and Veterans’ Affairs

Chapter 6. The Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act

29:726.5.1        Louisiana Center for Safe Schools; creation; duties

A. The Louisiana Center for Safe Schools, referred to in this Section as the “center”, shall be established within GOHSEP. 

B. The center shall: 

(1) Identify and prioritize resources available to improve the safety of Louisiana’s schools. 

(2) Facilitate the collection and dissemination of information on school safety, school safety vulnerabilities, school safety needs, training standards, best practices, and available funding programs. 

(3) Develop, in consultation with the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, a statewide comprehensive school safety framework that includes a statewide behavioral threat assessment model and trauma-informed student support. 

(4) Assist schools in developing and revising their school crisis and management response plans required pursuant to R.S. 17:416.16. 

(5) Coordinate with the state Department of Education to ensure that schools are aware of the resources of the center and that school safety rules are incorporating best practices. 

(6) Provide training and technical assistance to schools and school governing authorities on school safety issues such as emergency operations planning, emergency drills, behavioral threat assessment, facility security, information technology, digital privacy, vulnerability assessments, and hazard mitigation. 

(7) Facilitate consistent and comprehensive information sharing between schools, communities, and governmental agencies to promote safety and resiliency. 

(8) Identify and offer training for school resource officers pursuant to R.S. 17:416.19. 

C. The center shall provide an annual report to the governor, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Senate Committee on Education, and the House Committee on Education regarding the status of school safety in Louisiana, the work of the center, and resources identified to increase school safety. 

D. (1) No later than December 1, 2023, the center shall provide a statewide: 

(a) Panic emergency notification system. 

(b) Anonymous reporting system. 

(i) The anonymous reporting system shall include a memorandum of understanding that provides for the proper usage of the information reported. 

(ii) The system shall allow for the reporting of threats of violence toward any student or other person or any school or facility through a phone application and an internet website. 

(iii) Aggregate data without personally identifiable information shall be provided to the center relative to anonymous reports received through the system. 

(2) No later than April 1, 2024, each city, state, or other local school board shall implement the use of the panic emergency notification system and the anonymous reporting system or other systems of equal or exceeding capability. No later than May 1, 2024, each local school board shall report the systems implemented to the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the center. 

Added by Acts 2023, No. 334, § 2, eff. June 13, 2023.