The Students Safe at School Act; enact to provide for certain notice requirements for school shooting drills.

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To: Education
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Senator(s) Boyd

SENATE BILL NO. 2495

AN ACT TO ENACT THE STUDENTS SAFE AT SCHOOL ACT; TO DEFINE 1
TERMS UNDER THE ACT; TO OUTLINE STANDARDS; TO PROVIDE FOR STUDENT 2
HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROTOCOLS; TO SET FORTH NOTICE REQUIREMENTS; 3
TO ADDRESS STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN SHOOTER DRILLS; TO ADDRESS 4
STUDENT PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVE SHOOTER SIMULATIONS; TO REQUIRE 5
VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING; TO PROVIDE FOR STUDENT PARTICIPATION 6
IN SAFETY PLANNING; TO PROVIDE FOR PUBLICATION OF VENDORS; TO 7
CREATE GUIDELINES TO MEASURE EFFECTIVENESS OF DRILLS; AND FOR 8
RELATED PURPOSES. 9
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 10
SECTION 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as "The 11
Students Safe at School Act." 12
SECTION 2. For the purposes of this act the following words 13
and phrases shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the 14
context shall otherwise require: 15
(a) "Active shooter drill" means an emergency preparedness 16
drill designed to teach students, teachers, school personnel and 17
staff how to respond in the event of an armed intruder on campus 18
or an armed assailant in the immediate vicinity of the school. A 19
practice active shooter drill may not include any sensorial 20
components, activities or elements which mimic a real-life 21
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shooting. An active shooter drill, including practice active 22
shooter drills, is not an active shooter simulation. 23
(b) "Active shooter simulation" means an emergency exercise, 24
including full-scale or functional exercises, designed to teach 25
adult school personnel and staff how to respond in the event of an 26
armed intruder on campus or an armed assailant in the immediate 27
vicinity of the school and which incorporates activities or 28
elements mimicking a real-life shooting. Activities or elements 29
mimicking a real-life shooting include, but are not limited to, 30
simulation of tactical response by law enforcement. An active 31
shooter simulation is not an active shooter drill. 32
(c) "Evidence-based" means a program or practice that 33
demonstrates any of the following: 34
(i) A statistically significant effect on relevant 35
outcomes based on any of the following: 36
1. Strong evidence from not fewer than one (1) 37
well-designed and well-implemented experimental study; 38
2. Moderate evidence from not fewer than one (1) 39
well-designed and well-implemented quasi-experimental study; 40
3. Promising evidence from not fewer than one (1) 41
well-designed and well-implemented correlational study with 42
statistical controls for selection bias; or 43
(ii) A rationale based on high-quality research 44
findings or positive evaluations that the program or practice is 45
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likely to improve relevant outcomes, which shall also include the 46
ongoing efforts to examine the effects of the program or practice. 47
(d) "Department of Education" means the Mississippi 48
Department of Education. 49
(e) "Department of Mental Health" means the Mississippi 50
Department of Mental Health. 51
(f) "Full-scale exercise" means an operations-based exercise 52
that is typically the most complex and resource-intensive of the 53
exercise types and often involves multiple agencies, 54
jurisdictions, organizations and real-time movement of resources. 55
(g) "Functional exercise" means an operations-based exercise 56
designed to assess and evaluate capabilities and functions while 57
in a realistic, real-time environment; however, movement of 58
resources is usually simulated. 59
SECTION 3. (1) Every active shooter drill, including 60
practice active shooter drills, undertaken with students in Grades 61
K-12 shall be: 62
(a) Accessible; 63
(b) Developmentally appropriate and age-appropriate, 64
including appropriate safety verbiage and vocabulary; 65
(c) Culturally aware; 66
(d) Trauma-informed; and 67
(e) Including accommodations for students with mobility 68
restrictions, sensory needs, developmental or physical 69
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disabilities, mental health needs, and auditory or visual 70
limitations. 71
(2) Before a practice active shooter drill can be held it 72
shall meet the requirements of subsection (1)(a) through (e) of 73
this section. 74
SECTION 4. (1) Protocols for active shooter drills, 75
including practice active shooter drills, shall include a 76
reasonable amount of time, immediately following the drill, for 77
teachers to debrief with their students as set forth herein: 78
(a) The opportunity to debrief shall be provided to 79
students before regular classroom activity can be resumed. 80
(b) During the debrief period, students must be allowed 81
to access mental health postvention services available on campus 82
including counselors, school psychologists or social workers. 83
(2) A practice active shooter drill cannot be combined or 84
conducted consecutively with any other type of emergency 85
preparedness drill. 86
(3) Where an active shooter drill is a practice drill, it 87
must be announced as a practice drill prior to commencing. The 88
announcement shall use concise and age-appropriate language and, 89
at a minimum, inform students there is no immediate danger to life 90
and safety. 91
SECTION 5. (1) Before a practice active shooter drill is 92
held, the school in which the practice drill is to take place, 93
shall provide notice to every student's parent or legal guardian. 94
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(2) Notice of an upcoming practice active shooter drill 95
should be provided at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the 96
drill taking place. 97
(a) Such notice shall state the right of the parent or 98
legal guardian to opt their student out of participating. 99
(b) If a student is opted out of participating in 100
practice active shooter drills, no negative mark shall be added to 101
the student's general school attendance record nor shall 102
nonparticipation alone make a student ineligible to participate 103
in, or attend, school activities. 104
(3) The Department of Education shall ensure the 105
availability of alternative safety education for students who are 106
opted out, or otherwise exempted from, participating in practice 107
active shooter drills. 108
Alternative safety education shall provide essential safety 109
instruction through less sensorial safety training methods and 110
shall be appropriate for students with mental health needs, 111
mobility restrictions, sensory needs, developmental or physical 112
disabilities, and auditory or visual limitations. 113
(4) Where notice cannot be provided in advance, notice that 114
a practice active shooter drill took place shall be provided to 115
every student's parent or legal guardian within twenty-four (24) 116
hours of the drill having taken place. 117
SECTION 6. No student in grades K-12 shall be required to 118
participate in a practice active shooter drill where the training 119
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model used to teach school personnel how to conduct a proper drill 120
does not meet the standards set forth in Section 1 of this act. 121
SECTION 7. (1) No student in grades K-12 shall be required 122
to participate in an active shooter simulation. 123
(2) No active shooter simulation may take place during 124
regular school hours if a majority of students are present, or 125
expected to be present, at the school. 126
(3) Parents or legal guardians of students in grades nine 127
through twelve shall have the opportunity to opt their student 128
into participation in active shooter simulations. 129
(4) Parents or legal guardians so opting must provide 130
written notice to their student's school. At a minimum, this 131
notice must clearly state the student has permission to 132
participate in the simulation. 133
SECTION 8. (1) Every school district and charter school 134
undertaking an active shooter drill, including practice active 135
shooter drills, shall provide students in grades 6-12 at least one 136
(1) hour, or one (1) standard class period, of violence prevention 137
training annually. 138
(2) Such training shall be evidence-based and may be 139
delivered in-person, live-virtual, or digitally. Training shall, 140
at a minimum, teach students the following: 141
(a) How to identify observable warning signs and 142
signals of an individual who may be at risk of harming themselves 143
or others; 144
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(b) The importance of taking threats seriously and 145
seeking help; and 146
(c) The steps they can take to report dangerous, 147
violent, threatening, harmful or potentially harmful activity. 148
(3) The Department of Education shall, within one hundred 149
twenty (120) days of this law taking effect, develop a list of 150
evidence-based trainings school districts and charter schools that 151
may be used to fulfill the requirements of this section, including 152
no-cost programming, if any. 153
(4) The department shall post the list publicly on the 154
department's website and update the list every two (2) years. 155
(5) School districts and charter schools may use a training 156
that does not appear on the list if the training meets the 157
requirements set forth in this section. 158
SECTION 9. Districts shall ensure students the opportunity 159
to contribute to their school's safety and violence-prevention 160
planning. These opportunities shall align with the 161
recommendations of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's 162
multihazard planning for schools, including, but not limited to: 163
(a) Providing student opportunities for leadership 164
related to prevention and safety; 165
(b) Providing encouragement and support to students in 166
establishing clubs and programs focused on safety; and 167
(c) Providing students with the opportunity to seek 168
help from adults and to learn about prevention connected to 169
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topics, including bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault and 170
suicide. 171
SECTION 10. (1) The Department of Education shall make 172
publicly available, on its website, a list of vendors who teach 173
school personnel, including school safety officers, how to conduct 174
active shooter drills. This list shall be updated every two (2) 175
years. 176
At a minimum, this list must include the name of the school, 177
the name of the vendor, and vendor's website address if available. 178
(2) For the purposes of this section, "vendor" shall include 179
for-profit and nonprofit entities, as well as public agencies. 180
SECTION 11. (1) The State Department of Education shall, in 181
partnership with the Department of Mental Health, create 182
guidelines for measuring the effectiveness of active shooter 183
drills. 184
(2) These guidelines shall be made available to every school 185
district or charter school that conducts an active shooter drill, 186
including practice active shooter drills. 187
(3) Parents, legal guardians, students, teachers, school 188
staff and school-based mental health professionals shall have the 189
right to review and comment on the active shooter drill 190
guidelines. 191
(4) Every local school board shall hold at least one (1) 192
meeting every year to review the following: 193
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ST: The Students Safe at School Act; enact to
provide for certain notice requirements for
school shooting drills.
(a) Efficacy and effects of each school's active 194
shooter drills, including practice active shooter drills; 195
(b) Impact of active shooter drills on the safety of 196
students and staff; and 197
(c) Impact of active shooter drills, including practice 198
active shooter drills, on the mental health and wellness of 199
students and staff. 200
SECTION 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from 201
and after January 1, 2027. 202