All Mississippi K-12 schools may soon have to implement active-shooter drills and active-shooter simulations through “evidence-based programs” under House Bill 1379 if it becomes law.
Schools must inform students’ families at least 24 hours before having an active-shooter drill, but no later than 24 hours after the drill. A student’s parents or guardians could choose whether their child participates in the drill, the bill says.
“This bill would also provide mapping data to local law enforcement to be able to respond more effectively in the event that this would occur,” Rep. Zachary Grady, R-D’Iberville, said on the House floor on March 13.
Students in grades 6 through 12 must also undergo at least one hour of violence prevention training each year, the bill says.
“The State Department of Education shall ensure the availability of alternative safety education for students who are opted out, or otherwise exempted from participating in practice active shooter drills, be appropriate for students with mental health needs, mobility restrictions, sensory needs, developmental or physical disabilities and auditory or visual limitations,” H.B. 1379 says.
The House passed the bill 119-0 on March 13, and the Senate unanimously passed an amended version of the bill on April 10, returning it to the House for concurrence.
INSPIRE Act Killed and Revived
The Senate killed the House’s efforts to reform the state’s education-funding formula through the INSPIRE Act by letting House Bill 1453 die in the Senate Education and Appropriations committees on April 2. The House amended the Senate’s own version of a school-funding formula update to replace its text with the text of the INSPIRE Act using a strike-all amendment, prompting the Senate to kill its own bill on April 9.
Then, House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Roberson, R-Starkville, made another strike-all amendment that replaced the language of another bill, Senate Bill 2693, with the House’s INSPIRE Act text on April 10 to keep the effort alive.
House Education Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Roberson, pictured, has led efforts to pass the INSPIRE Act to fund the state’s public education system. Photo courtesy Mississippi Senate
The Senate’s original version
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