In preparation for the 2024-2025 school year, school districts and private schools should confirm they are meeting their statutory obligations related to school safety plans. Generally, school safety plans provide a shared understanding among school personnel, school leadership, parents, and law enforcement during times of crisis. School safety plans contain directions for interested parties during active threats, inclement weather, and fire emergencies. School safety plans are not only required by state statute but given the increasing number of threats of school violence that schools are forced to navigate each year, school safety plans are more important than ever.
Wis. Stat. § 118.07(4)(a) provides that each school board and governing body of private schools must have a school safety plan in effect. At least every three years, public school districts and private schools must review and approve their school safety plan.
Before creating or updating its school safety plan, a school board or governing body of a private school must, in consultation with local law enforcement, conduct an on-site safety assessment of each school building, site, and facility regularly occupied by pupils and school staff. Districts and private schools are also required to submit a copy of the most recent blueprints or interactive critical mapping data for each school building or facility to each law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over any portion of the district or private school.
At a minimum, school safety plans must include:
- An individualized school safety plan for each school building and surrounding property that is regularly occupied by pupils.
- Guidelines specifying procedures for emergency prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.
- Guidelines and procedures to address school violence and attacks, threats of school violence, bomb threats, fire, weather-related emergencies, intruders, parent-student reunification, and threats to non-classroom events including recess, concerts, athletic events, or any other extracurricular activity.
- The process for reviewing methods for conducting drills.
Alternatively, a school safety plan may not include:
- A requirement that an employee contact a school official before calling 911 for emergency services.
- A prohibition against an employee seeking to report school violence, a threat of school violence, or suspicious individuals or activity directly to law enforcement.
Before January 1st of every year, each school board and governing body of a private school must file a copy of its school safety plan with the Office of School Safety within the Wisconsin Department of Justice. At the time of submission, the school board or governing body must also submit:
- The date of annual drill(s) pertaining to threats of school violence.
- Certification that a written evaluation of the drill was received by the school board or governing body.
- The date of the most recent school training on school safety, which must be based on the school district’s or private school’s prioritized needs, risks, and vulnerabilities, and the number of attendees.
- The most recent date on which the school board of governing body reviewed and approved the school safety plan.
- The most recent date that the school board or governing body consulted with their local law enforcement agency to conduct the on-site safety assessment.
Upon the acquisition of new land or real estate, facility remodeling, capital improvements, or any other location regularly operated by pupils and school staff, school districts and private schools should review their school safety plans for changes, if necessary, before the facility is regularly occupied by pupils and school staff.
Schools have an immense responsibility to ensure the safety of students and staff while at school and at school-related events. These plans are not only required by law, but also assist schools in taking a proactive approach to school safety before an emergency arises.
Additional information and resources on school safety plans can be found on the DPI website.
