(1) The general assembly finds that:
In 2008, the general assembly passed Senate Bill 08-181 calling for the improvementof coordination among agencies when responding to school incidents;
In 2011, the general assembly passed additional legislation, Senate Bill 11-173, concerning the interoperability of communications in schools;
While progress has been made in coordination, interoperability continues to be anissue due to lack of funding for needed hardware, software, and training to allow for seamless communications between existing school district communication systems and first responder communication systems;
The use of interoperable technology would enable schools and school district stakeholders to communicate across the district and with public safety over existing independent networks during an emergency;
It is necessary to create a program to leverage the public safety radios system servingthe region, including but not limited to the state's digital trunked network, which is a standardsbased first responder communications system in place statewide, along with other communications networks, and to expand the infrastructure by allowing direct communication from school radios and other communications devices to first responder radios and other communications devices to improve interoperability;
An adaptable system can connect any school's existing radio equipment to the radioof a first responder. In addition, the connection can be switched on and off immediately by public safety personnel and system administrators.
Public safety officials and system administrators must have the ability to enable anddisable the interoperable technology;
Going beyond the critical 911 call, it is important to use any available and proventechnology that enables emergency services personnel and school officials to communicate in real-time during an incident; and
This interoperable technology is not to be used by schools for day-to-day operationson the public safety communications network.
(2) The general assembly further finds that the purpose of this part 21 is to create the school access for emergency response grant program to provide schools and public safety communications networks with money for needed hardware, software, and training so that when an emergency happens, dispatchers can activate the technology over both the radio system and other communications networks, trained school-safety teams can connect on the radio and other communications devices across the district, and first responders can arrive on the scene informed with the most up-to-date information.
Source: L. 2018: Entire part added, (SB 18-158), ch. 214, p. 1360, § 1, effective May 16.