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H7731ASchool Safety

Education - Health and Safety of Pupils

This bill adds a representative from the Rhode Island School Resource Officer Association to the state's school safety committee.

Introduced69 Yea0 Nay6 Not voting
Population
Affected
45
Email Legislator
Introduced Feb 12, 2026Committee House Education

Plain-English Summary

This bill amends existing law regarding the Rhode Island school safety committee by adding a new member. Specifically, it adds a representative from the Rhode Island School Resource Officer Association, bringing the total number of committee members from twelve to thirteen. The committee is responsible for providing safety training to educators and law enforcement, reviewing safety assessments, and offering recommendations to improve the security of students and faculty in schools across the state.

For younger readers

This bill adds one more person to the Rhode Island school safety committee. This group helps make sure schools are safe for kids and teachers. The new person added to the group will be a school resource officer, which is a police officer who works specifically inside of a school. This brings the total number of people in the group from 12 to 13.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
StudentsTeachersSchool AdministratorsSchool Resource OfficersLaw Enforcement
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely. The bill simply alters the composition of a state advisory committee. The exemptions from public records and open meetings laws for school safety plans are standard security exceptions and do not typically violate constitutional rights.

Estimated cost
None
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Promotes a collaborative approach to safety by bringing different community stakeholders together to protect the welfare of students and staff.
  • Ensures that school safety protocols are informed by individuals who actually work inside the schools on a daily basis.
  • Maintains provisions for psychological response teams to address the mental health needs of students and staff affected by violence.
  • Elevates the role of policing in schools by adding a school resource officer, which progressives argue disproportionately harms minority students and fuels the school-to-prison pipeline.
  • Fails to balance the addition of law enforcement with the addition of a mental health advocate, social worker, or student representative on the committee.
  • Upholds a lack of transparency by keeping safety committee meetings and documents exempt from public records laws, preventing community oversight.
For Conservatives
  • Enhances law enforcement representation on the committee by officially including a school resource officer, prioritizing traditional security measures.
  • Helps ensure that schools maintain a safe and orderly environment, which is essential for effective education and community stability.
  • Protects sensitive security information from bad actors by keeping safety assessments and meetings exempt from public records and open meeting laws.
  • Expands the size of a state government committee, contributing to bureaucratic bloat.
  • Dictates state mandates onto local school districts regarding safety assessments, which infringes on local control and governance.
  • Does not include measures to expand self-defense rights or allow trained staff to carry firearms on school grounds for enhanced security.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 5 additions · 1 deletion

SECTION 1. Section 16-21-23 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21 entitled "Health and Safety of Pupils" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-21-23. School safety teams, school crisis response teams, and school safety assessments.

(a) Each school district of each town, city, and regional school department shall conduct a school safety assessment in conjunction with local police, fire, school safety team pursuant to the provisions of this section and any other expert said school department deems necessary. The assessment shall examine the current status of each school building’s safety and shall be performed within thirty (30) days of passage of this act, and every three (3) years thereafter.

(1) There shall be a Rhode Island school safety committee whose functions shall include, but not be limited to, providing training to law enforcement, school administrators, and teachers; collecting and reviewing all hazard safety security assessments; and offering recommendations and assistance to each school district of every town, city, and regional school department, in an effort to increase the safety of students and faculty. The committee shall be comprised of twelve (12) thirteen (13) members as follows: the superintendent of the Rhode Island state police or designee, who shall serve as chairperson of the committee; the president of the Police Chiefs’ Association, or designee; a representative from the Rhode Island School Resource Officer Association, to be selected by the association; the director of the Rhode Island emergency management agency, or designee; the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education, or designee; a representative from the Rhode Island School Superintendents’ Association, to be selected by the association; the director of the department of behavioral healthcare, developmental disabilities and hospitals, or designee; the state fire marshal, or designee; a representative of the Rhode Island Association of School Maintenance Directors, to be selected by the association; a representative from the Rhode Island Association of School Principals, to be selected by the association; a representative from the Rhode Island Association of School Committees, to be selected by the association; a representative from the National Education Association of Rhode Island (“NEARI”), who shall be a full-time classroom teacher, to be selected by the president of NEARI; and one representative from the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals (“RIFTHP”), who shall be a full-time classroom teacher, to be selected by the president of the RIFTHP.

(2) Each school department of each town, city, and regional school district shall complete the emergency action plan and shall submit the all hazards site safety survey report to the Rhode Island school safety committee every three (3) years for the committee’s review and recommendation.

(3) The assessment shall be completed by November 1 of the year mandated, and by December 31 of that year, the commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall report to the speaker of the house, the senate president, and the governor that the assessments have been completed. Assessments performed within a year of the date of passage of this act shall satisfy this requirement.

(4) All meetings regarding the school safety assessment are not subject to the open meetings law pursuant to chapter 46 of title 42, and documents produced including, but not limited to, meeting minutes and the school safety assessment are not subject to the access to public records law pursuant to chapter 2 of title 38.

(b) The school committee of each town, city, and regional school department shall review and adopt in executive session a comprehensive school safety plan regarding crisis intervention, emergency response, and management. The plan shall be developed by a school safety team comprised of representatives of the school committee; representatives of student, teacher, and parent organizations; school safety personnel; school administration; and members of local law enforcement, fire, and emergency personnel. Members of the school safety team shall be appointed by the school committee and/or school superintendent of the town, city, or regional school district. In creating the school safety plan, the school safety team(s) shall consult the model school safety plan developed by the department of elementary and secondary education pursuant to § 16-21-23.1.

(c) The school crisis response team shall be comprised of those selected school personnel willing to serve as members of a psychological response team to address the psychological and emotional needs of the school community, and may seek mental health resources from the department of elementary and secondary education. Members of the school crisis response team may coordinate mental health services for those students and school employees affected by acts of violence in the schools, using resources available through the department of elementary and secondary education.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.