The Vermont Statutes Online

Title 16: Education

Chapter 033: FIRE AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DRILLS AND SAFETY PATROLS

• § 1480. Emergency operations plans

  (a) Each supervisory union or supervisory district shall 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. The plan shall be reviewed and updated on an annual basis, in collaboration with local emergency first responders and local emergency management officials.

  (b) Each approved and recognized independent school shall adopt and maintain an all-hazards emergency operations plan consistent with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section.

  (c) The Vermont School Safety Center shall maintain an emergency operations plan template and update the template as appropriate. (Added 2023, No. 29, § 2, eff. July 1, 2024.)

• § 1481. Fire and emergency preparedness drills

  (a) Each school board in a district that operates a school shall adopt a policy mandating each school site to conduct options-based response drills at each school site in the fall and spring of each academic year. The policy shall require age-appropriate options-based response drills, including fire drills, to be conducted following the guidance issued by the Vermont School Safety Center jointly with the Vermont School Crisis Planning Team and shall require notification to parents and guardians not later than one school day before an options-based response drill is conducted. In issuing the guidance, the Vermont School Safety Center and the Vermont School Crisis Planning Team shall include trauma-informed best practices for implementing options-based response drills. A superintendent shall report completion of the biannual drills to the Agency of Education in a format approved by the Secretary.

  (b) Each approved or recognized independent school or other educational institution, other than a university or college, shall adopt a policy mandating the school to conduct options-based response drills and fire drills in the fall and spring of each academic year, consistent with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section. The head of school shall report completion of the biannual drills to the Agency of Education in a format approved by the Secretary.

  (c) A school district, independent school, or educational institution whose administrative personnel neglect to comply with the provisions of this section shall be fined not more than $500.00.

  (d) Annually, the Vermont School Safety Center and Agency of Education shall review the reports submitted according to this section and shall ensure compliance and identify future planning and training needs. (Amended 1973, No. 214 (Adj. Sess.), § 5; 1991, No. 24, § 11; 2003, No. 16, § 2; 2003, No. 141 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. April 1, 2005; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 136, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2023, No. 29, § 1, eff. August 1, 2023.)

• § 1482. Safety patrols

  (a) In the exercise of authorized control and supervision over students attending schools and other educational institutions in this State, both public and independent, the school board or other directing authority of a school or institution may organize and supervise school safety patrols and the appointment, with the permission of parents, of students as members for the purpose of influencing and encouraging other students to refrain from crossing public highways at points other than at regular crossings and for the purpose of directing students not to cross highways at times when the presence of traffic would make crossing unsafe.

  (b) The school board or other directing authority shall obtain and keep in force adequate accident insurance to protect students acting as safety patrols during the performance of their services.

  (c) The Commissioner of Public Safety shall, upon the request of a school board or other directing authority of any public or independent educational institution, assign an officer or officers of the State Police to assist the school authorities to organize and supervise school safety patrols, advise and make recommendations concerning the elimination of traffic hazards endangering the safety of students, and otherwise assist in promoting safety education in the schools of the State. Within the appropriation of the Department of Public Safety, the Commissioner shall furnish any equipment, material, and supplies that he or she deems necessary for the proper functioning of the school safety patrols. Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize or permit any safety patrol member to direct vehicular traffic.

  (d) Liability shall not attach either to a school, educational institution, governing board, individual director, trustee, superintendent, teacher, or other school authority, parent, sponsor, sponsoring organization, or representative of a sponsor, or to the Department of Public Safety or to any of its employees, by virtue of the organization, maintenance, or operation of a school safety patrol and school safety patrol field day activity organized, maintained, and operated under the authority of this section because of injuries sustained by any student or person, whether a member of the patrol or otherwise, by reason of the operation and maintenance. (Amended 1991, No. 24, § 11; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 137, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

• § 1483. Chapter printed in manuals or handbooks

  This chapter shall be printed in manuals or handbooks prepared for the guidance of teachers in a school or institution subject to the provisions of this chapter. (Amended 1977, No. 33, § 4; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), § 138, eff. Feb. 14, 2014.)

• § 1484. Access control and visitor management policy

  (a) Each supervisory union board, member district board, or supervisory district board shall adopt an access control and visitor management policy that, at a minimum, requires that all school sites and supervisory union and supervisory district offices lock exterior doors during the school day. The policy shall require that all visitors sign in at a centralized location prior to gaining full access to the school or office site. If a school recognizes a need to leave a specific structure unlocked as needed for agricultural, recreational, or other reasonably practical purposes directly related to a school’s mission or curriculum, it may justify leaving that structure unlocked in its visitor policy.

  (b) Each approved and recognized independent school shall adopt a written access control and visitor management policy consistent with the requirements in subsection (a) of this section. (Added 2023, No. 29, § 3, eff. August 1, 2023.)

• § 1485. Behavioral threat assessment teams [Effective July 1, 2025]

  (a) Legislative intent.

  (1) It is the intent of the General Assembly that behavioral threat assessment teams be used for the purpose of preventing instances of severe and significant targeted violence against schools and school communities, such as threats related to weapons and mass casualties and bomb threats. The goal of these teams is to assess and appropriately respond to potential reported threats to school communities.

  (2) It is the intent of the General Assembly that use of behavioral threat assessment teams shall not contribute to increased school exclusion or unnecessary referrals of students to the criminal justice and school discipline systems and shall not disproportionately impact students from historically marginalized backgrounds, including students with disabilities.

  (b) Policy.

  (1) As used in this section, “behavioral threat assessment” means a fact-based, systematic process designed to identify, gather information about, assess, and manage dangerous or violent situations.

  (2) The Secretary of Education, in consultation with stakeholder groups, including the Commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, Vermont School Boards Association, and Vermont Legal Aid Disability Law Project, shall develop, and from time to time update, a model behavioral threat assessment team policy and procedures. In developing the model policy and procedures, the Secretary shall follow guidance issued by the Vermont School Safety Center on best practices in the use of behavioral threat assessment teams. The model policy and procedure shall require law enforcement contact in the case of imminent danger to individuals or the school community and shall address the following:

  (A) the criteria that shall be used to assess a student’s threatening behavior;

  (B) the process for reporting threatening behavior;

  (C) the civil rights and due process protections to which students are entitled in school settings;

  (D) when and how to refer to or involve law enforcement in the limited instances when such referral is appropriate, which shall not include student behavior that is a violation of the school conduct code but that is not also a crime; and

  (E) the support resources that shall be made available, including mental health first aid, counseling, and safety plans.

  (3) Each school district and each approved or recognized independent school shall develop, adopt, and ensure implementation of a policy and procedures for use of behavioral threat assessment teams that is consistent with and at least as comprehensive as the model policy and procedures developed by the Secretary. Any school board or independent school that fails to adopt such a policy or procedures shall be presumed to have adopted the most current model policy and procedures published by the Secretary.

  (4) The Vermont School Safety Center shall issue guidance on the best practices of behavioral threat assessment teams. The guidance shall include best practices on bias and how to reduce incidents of bias, developed in consultation with the Office of Racial Equity.

  (c) Discipline and student support.

  (1) Consistent with the legislative intent in subsection (a) of this section, if a behavioral threat assessment team recommends, in addition to providing support resources, any action that could result in removal of a student from the student’s school environment pending or after a behavioral threat assessment, the recommendation shall only be carried out in a manner consistent with existing law, regulation, and associated procedures on student discipline pursuant to section 1162 of this title and Agency of Education, Pupils (CVR 22-000-009), as well as federal and State law regarding students with disabilities or students who require additional support.

  (2) Behavioral threat assessments shall be structured and used in a way that is intended to minimize interaction with the criminal justice system. Law enforcement referral and involvement may be appropriate only in cases involving threats, which shall not include student behavior that is a violation of the school conduct code but that is not also a crime.

  (d) Training.

  (1) Each supervisory union, supervisory district, and approved or recognized independent school shall ensure behavioral threat assessment team members receive training at least annually in best practices of conducting behavioral threat assessments, as well as bias training. The annual training shall include the following topics:

  (A) the rules governing exclusionary discipline, Agency of Education, Pupils (CVR 22-000-009);

  (B) the purpose, use, and proper implementation of the manifestation determination review process;

  (C) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; and other civil rights laws;

  (D) the negative consequences of exclusion from school;

  (E) the impact of trauma on brain development; and

  (F) group bias training, specifically focused on bias in carrying out the duties of the behavioral threat assessment team.

  (2) The Agency of Education, in consultation with the Department of Public Safety, shall develop guidance and resources to assist supervisory unions, supervisory districts, and independent schools in providing the annual training required under this subsection. In developing the guidance on bias training for behavioral threat assessment teams, the Agency and Department shall consult with the Vermont Office of Racial Equity.

  (e) Data reporting and collection. Annually, each supervisory union, supervisory district, and approved or recognized independent school shall report data related to completion of and outcomes of all behavioral threat assessments and manifestation determination reviews to the Agency in a format approved by the Secretary. At a minimum, the annual report shall include:

  (1) the names of the members of the behavioral assessment team;

  (2) the number of behavioral threat assessments and manifestation determination reviews conducted in the preceding year and for each assessment or review conducted:

  (A) a description of the behavior requiring an assessment;

  (B) the age, grade, race, gender, disability status, and eligibility for free or reduced-price school meals of the student requiring the assessment; and

  (C) the results of each assessment or review;

  (3) the number of students subjected to more than one behavioral threat assessment or manifestation determination review;

  (4) the amount of time a student is out of school pending completion of a behavioral threat assessment;

  (5) information regarding whether a student subject to a behavioral threat assessment was also subject to exclusionary discipline for the same behavior, including the length of such discipline;

  (6) information regarding whether law enforcement was involved in a behavioral threat assessment;

  (7) information regarding whether the threatening behavior was also reported to law enforcement; and

  (8) any additional data the Secretary of Education determines may be necessary. (Added 2023, No. 29, § 4, eff. July 1, 2025.)