BILL NUMBER: S6537A

SPONSOR: GOUNARDES
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to lock-down drills

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To reduce the number of mandated lock-down drills in public and private
schools across the state and ensure a trauma-informed approach to such
drills

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one of the bill amends subdivision 1 of section 807 of the
Education Law to reduce the number of required lock-down drills from
from four per year to two.

Section two adds a new subdivision 2-a to section 807 of the Education
Law to ensure a trauma-informed, developmentally, and age-appropriate
approach to the design and execution of such drills, including advance
              

notice to parents and guardians, accommodations for students who may
need extra support such as those with post-traumatic stress disorder or
developmental or physical disabilities, an announcement at the beginning
of the drill that the drill is a drill, and consistent and thorough
training for teachers implementing the drills.

Section three sets the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

In 2016, following several horrific nationwide school shootings, New
York passed a revamping of district-wide school safety plans and build-
ing-level emergency response plans, including a requirement for four
lockdown drills per year, as part of the annual budget - more than 45
other states in the nation (Ch. 54 of 2016, § 2 Part B).There are few
other states in the country that mandate lockdown drills, during which
students rehearse for the possibility of an active shooter entering
their school buildings, at such a high frequency.

While an important component of a school safety plan regime, these lock-
down drills are not without their detriments - the drills typically run
the gamut from simple crouch-and-cover routines to actual simulations
with teachers shooting plastic pellets and rattling door handles, trau-
matizing many a young child and teen. Parents report stories of their
children texting them goodbye messages or writing out their wills, imag-
ining the drills are real, or having nightmares for weeks afterward. One
study on the aftereffects of the drills shows that they led to a 39%
spike in depression, a 42% increase in stress and anxiety, and a 23%
increase in overall physiological health problems. In addition to this
induced trauma, experts at Everytown for Gun Safety, the American Feder-
ation of Teachers, and the National Education Association also cite the
feasibility of children retaining the information they are supposed to
learn from the drills and the increased risk of harm associated with
fighting back against an active shooter. Darkly, in an era where many
assailants are current or former students of the schools they target,
the drills also run the extremely counterproductive risk of sharing
critical information that can then later be used in an attack.
Compounding matters is the inconsistent and scattershot training that
teachers and school officials receive on how they are to manage their
classrooms during the drills. As reported by Chalkbeat New York, many
teachers never receive any formal training on how to conduct the drills
and instead learn by trial-and-error. They are not taught how to handle
potential technical issues, such as classrooms with physical limitations
like windowed walls, or prepared for students' emotional responses. The
drills vary widely across classrooms and schools, with some teachers
receiving no prior notice that a drill is going to occur or instructions
on how to explain the drill to students (Marcela Rodrigues-Sherley. "NYC
teachers get little to no training on lockdown drills." Chalkbeat New
York, 13 Jul 2022.).

The Governor herself has acknowledged the potential drawbacks to these
drills when she partnered with the State Education Department and New
York State Police to issue a recent letter to school leaders that read
"In the aftermath of a traumatizing event like the Nashville shooting
and subsequent false threats of violence, school officials may wish to
postpone any scheduled drills to reduce the risk of additional trauma to
students and staff while maintaining awareness of processes and proce-
dures to keep students and staff safe.  Schools that conduct drills
should do so with the utmost care and caution and always by informing
all participants that it is a drill.  After the conclusion, it is best
practice to leave time to debrief with students and staff." (Governor
Kathy Hochul. Letter to School Leaders. 31 March 2023.). The State
Education Department is in the process itself of updating its regu-
lations on lockdown drills to ensure that they are done in a trauma-in-
formed, developmentally, and age-appropriate manner, do not include
props, actors, simulations, or other tactics intended to mimic a school
shooting or other act of violence, and are clearly announced as a drill.
Clearly, there is broad consensus from stakeholders and observers that
the drills are in need of reform.

This bill makes a number of improvements to the lockdown drill mandate
by: reducing the minimum number of required drills from four to two;
providing advance notice to parents and guardians of such drills;
accounting for students who have post-traumatic stress disorder, anxie-
ty, physical disabilities, or other medical conditions who may have a
particularly negative experience with such drills and need extra
support; and providing thorough and standardized training for teachers
and school personnel on how to conduct the drills.

Taken together, these reforms represent a commonsense approach to school
safety by rightsizing New York's excessive mandate that schools conduct
four drills a year. They preserve the original purpose of the drills as
a preparation tool while accounting more fully for the traumatizing
effect they can have on those involved and ensuring that school
districts and instructors are better equipped to handle students' needs.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023: S6537 - Passed Senate

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the day
on which it shall have become a law.