A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to authorize the department of public safety to implement a statewide school risk and response management STRATEGY, make conforming changes to other school safety requirements and to provide for grants for additional school counselors.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S.  115C‑105.49 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑105.49.  School safety exercises.
(a)	At least once annually, each principal and other applicable school officials shall hold a full school‑wide tabletop exercise or drill based on the procedures documented in its School Risk Management Plan (SRMP). Each school is encouraged to hold a tabletop exercise and drill for multiple hazards included in its SRMP, including a school lockdown due to an intruder on school grounds. Schools are strongly encouraged to include local law enforcement agencies and emergency management agencies in its tabletop exercises and drills. The purpose of the tabletop exercises and drills shall be to permit participants to (i) discuss simulated emergency situations in a low‑stress environment, (ii) clarify their roles and responsibilities and the overall logistics of dealing with an emergency, and (iii) identify areas in which the SRMP needs to be modified.
(b)	For the purposes of this section, a tabletop exercise is an exercise involving key personnel conducting simulated scenarios related to emergency planning."
SECTION 2.  Article 8C of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑105.49A.  School Risk and Response Management System.
(a)	The Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, and the Center for Safer Schools, shall construct and maintain a statewide School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS). The system shall fully integrate and leverage existing data and applications that support school risk planning and exercise, monitoring, and emergency response via 911 dispatch.
(b)	In constructing the SRRMS, the Division of Emergency Management and the Center for Safer Schools shall leverage the existing enterprise risk management database, School Risk Management Planning (SRMP) tool, and School Emergency Response Application (SERA) managed by the Division. The Division shall also leverage the local school administrative unit schematic diagrams of school facilities. Where technically feasible, the system shall integrate any anonymous tip line established pursuant to G.S. 115C‑105.51 and any 911‑initiated panic alarm systems authorized as part of an emergency response plan pursuant to G.S. 115C‑47(40). The Division and Center for Safer Schools shall collaborate with the Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina 911 Board in the design, implementation, and maintenance of the SRRMS.
(c)	All data and information acquired and stored in the SRRMS as provided in subsections (a) and (b) of this section are not considered public records as the term "public record" is defined under G.S. 132‑1 and shall not be subject to inspection and examination under G.S. 132‑6."
SECTION 3.  G.S.  115C‑105.51 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑105.51.  Monitoring and response applications.
	
(b)	The Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, and the Center for Safer Schools, in collaboration with the Department of Public Instruction, shall implement and maintain an anonymous safety tip line application for purposes of receiving anonymous student information on internal or external risks to school buildings and school‑related activities. The Department of Public Safety, in consultation with the Department of Public Instruction, may develop standards and guidelines for the development, operation, and staffing of tip lines.
(c)	The Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, and the Center for Safer Schools, in collaboration with the Department of Public Instruction and the North Carolina 911 Board, shall implement and maintain a statewide panic alarm system for the purposes of displaying anonymous student information on internal or external risks to school buildings and school‑related activities.
(d)	The Department of Public Safety shall ensure that the anonymous safety tip line application is integrated with and supports the statewide School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS) as provided in G.S. 115C‑105.49A. Where technically feasible and cost efficient, the Department of Public Safety is encouraged to implement a single solution supporting both the anonymous safety tip application and panic alarm application."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 166A‑19.12 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(22)	Serving as the lead State agency for the implementation and maintenance of the Statewide School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS) under G.S. 115C‑105.49A."
SECTION 5.  By December 1, 2015, the Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, and the Center for Safer Schools, shall provide a report to the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations on (i) the status of the School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS) implementation under G.S. 115C‑105.49A, as enacted by this act, and (ii) the anticipated annual cost to operate and maintain the system.
SECTION 6.  Notwithstanding G.S. 115C‑105.51, as amended by this act, by July 1, 2016, the Department of Public Safety shall have implemented an anonymous safety tip line application and a statewide panic alarm system pursuant to G.S. 115C‑105.51.
SECTION 7.  Subject to the availability of funds, it is the intent of the General Assembly to provide funds during the 2015‑2017 fiscal biennium to provide grants to local school administrative units, regional schools, and charter schools for additional school psychologists, guidance counselors, and social workers. These funds shall be matched on the basis of one dollar ($1.00) in State funds for every one dollar ($1.00) in local funds and shall be used to supplement and not to supplant State, local, and federal funds expended for school psychologists, guidance counselors, and social workers.
The State Board of Education shall include need‑based considerations in its criteria for awarding these grants to local school administrative units. The State Board shall give lower priority to local school administrative units that have received a grant for school resource officers pursuant to Section 8.36 of S.L. 2013‑360.
SECTION 8.  This act is effective when it becomes law. Section 1 of this act applies beginning with the 2015‑2016 school year.