Senate Bill No. 538
(By Senators Tomblin (Mr. President) and Sprouse
By Request of the Executive)
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[Introduced March 21, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve,
relating to post-secondary and secondary education; student
and school safety; establishing and operating a statewide
emergency telephone hotline; state fire marshal
responsibilities; advisory council; publicity; report
confidentiality; liability; report to legislative oversight
commission on education accountability; legislative rules; and
emergency rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twelve,
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-2-12. Call for protective response for schools.
(a) The state fire marshal shall operate in conjunction with
the arson notification hotline, a toll-free, state-wide, safe
schools telephone hotline. The hotline shall be conducted at all
times on a continuous twenty-four hour basis by a trained operator,
for the purpose of receiving information concerning any threat of
harm to a student, school employee or school facility.
(b) The state fire marshal shall:
(1) Provide a method for students and school employees to
contact the hotline during school hours from the school facility
via computerized internet service;
(2) Provide technical assistance to the state department of
education in delivering the training provided in this section;
(3) Develop in conjunction with the state department of
education and the secretary of education and the arts a curriculum
for teaching school employees procedures and techniques for keeping
schools safe; and
(4) Establish legislative rules according to the provisions of
this section which:
(A) Establish varying levels of emergency for different types
of reports;
(B) Provide for a method of notifying appropriate individuals
in each county or throughout the state in the case of a report made
to the hotline; and
(C) Provide for the confidentiality of any information
pertaining to any report to the hotline.
(c) Together the department of military affairs and public
safety, the office of the state fire marshal, the state department
of education, the department of education and the arts and the
higher education policy commission shall:
(1) Publicize to school employees, students, parents and
citizens of the state the purpose and availability of the hotline
for receiving information regarding any threat of harm to a student
or school facility; and
(2) Solicit from private businesses and organizations
assistance and sponsorship in publicizing the hotline.
(d) Together the fire marshal and the state department of
education shall promote among students and the community the merits
of programs and organizations administered by students, parents and
community members for the purpose of preserving safe school
environments.
(e) The state department of education shall:
(1) Educate school employees and students regarding the
importance of reporting any potential threat and of considering
serious any threat generated;
(2) Train school employees and students regarding strategies
for keeping schools safe;
(3) Train school employees regarding responding to reports of
safe school violations; and
(4) Deliver safety training to school employees based on the
curriculum developed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b)
of this section.
(f) All information pertaining to any report to the hotline is
confidential, and may not be disclosed to any person not authorized
under the provisions of this section or rules promulgated pursuant
to this section. Information collected by the state fire marshal's
office pertaining to any report is not public record and is exempt
from disclosure under the freedom of information act provided in
chapter twenty-nine-b of this code. Nothing in this section
prohibits publication of information in a statistical form which
does not identify any individual involved or provide personal
information.
(g) There is a toll-free, state-wide emergency hotline advisory council established to examine the feasibility of
coordinating services among toll-free, state-wide emergency
hotlines. The council consists of the following members or their
designees: The state superintendent of schools; the higher
education policy commission chancellor; the department of education
and the arts secretary; a governor's office representative; the
department of military affairs and public safety secretary; the
state fire marshal; the state police superintendent; a West
Virginia sheriff's association representative; a West Virginia
deputy sheriff's association representative; a school
administrators association of West Virginia representative; a West
Virginia school boards association representative; and the office
of emergency services director.
(h) The state fire marshal may solicit, accept and expend for
the purpose of this section any contribution, grant or
appropriation from any source.
(i) No person is liable for reporting information to the
hotline where that person does not have actual knowledge of the
information reported being factually inaccurate.
(j) As used in this section, "school employee" and "student"
includes persons in both secondary and postsecondary education
institutions.
(k) The state fire marshal annually shall report statistical
information to the legislative oversight commission on education
accountability during the January interim meeting period, regarding
the number of calls received by the hotline and general information
concerning the types of reports received. The report may not
identify any individual involved or provide any personal
information.
(l) The state fire marshal shall propose legislative rules
pursuant to the provisions of article three-a, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code to carry out the purposes of this
section. The Legislature finds that an emergency exists, and
therefore the initial rule shall be filed as an emergency rule by
the first day of July, two thousand one. The rule shall be refiled
at the earliest opportunity as a legislative rule for approval by
the legislative oversight commission on education accountability
and in accordance with the provisions of said article three-a.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a state-wide
emergency telephone hotline for schools through the fire marshal's
office.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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