Under Wisconsin Statute §118.07(4), private schools are now required to develop a school safety plan. The Office of School Safety (OSS), created under Act 143, will be responsible for school safety plans. When creating your school safety plan, it is recommended that you work with any local law enforcement and first responders in your area.
See page 65 of the WCRIS 2020-21 Legal Handbook for detailed information about the requirements.
Here is what your school safety plan must include:
- You must have a plan for each school building that is regularly occupied by pupils. This includes buildings like gyms, cafeteria and auditoriums.
- The plan should focus on the areas of emergency prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.
- The plan should address school violence, threats of school violence, bomb threats, fire, hazardous weather, intruders along with plans for events like recess, concerts and other after-school activities.
- There should also be polices for reviewing and conducting drills.
Here are things that you cannot include in your school safety plan:
- Employees cannot be required to contact a school administrator or other school official before calling 911.
- Employees cannot be required to contact a school administrator or other school official before reporting a threat of violence.
- Employees cannot be required to contact a school administrator or other school official before reporting a suspicious person or activity.
Blue Prints
Under the new laws, private schools are required to submit a copy of their school’s blueprints to the OSS and local law enforcement. Blueprints are defined by the DOJ as floor plans showing windows, doors and room numbers.
School Safety Plans and Drills
School safety plans must be reviewed and approved at least once every three years after the plan goes into effect. Every January 1, schools must submit a copy of their school safety plan to the OSS.
Along with the school safety plan, a school must also submit the following items:
- The date of the safety drill or school violence drill from the previous year.
- The date of the most recent school training on school safety and how many attended.
- There must be a written evaluation of the safety drill that has been reviewed by the governing body of the private school. This is the body that can legally obligate a school to contracts and legal liability.
- The most recent date that the private school governing body consulted with local law enforcement to conduct a safety assessment.
School safety drills must be conducted in every building that is occupied by students at least once a year. The students must respond according to the school’s safety plan. The person who conducted the drill must provide the governing body a written evaluation of the drill. The governing body must review all evaluations submitted.
