Resolved, There is hereby established a special commission pursuant to section 2A of chapter 4 of the General Laws to study enhanced school safety. The commission shall consist of 15 members: the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on education, or their designees; the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on public safety, or their designees; the minority leader of the house of representatives, or a designee; the minority leader of the senate, or a designee; the Fire Marshal of the commonwealth, or a designee; the Chief of Police of the city of Boston, or designee; a chief of police from a town with less than 25,000 residents, to be appointed by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association; a fire chief from a town with less than 25,000 residents, to be appointed by the Fire Chiefs Association of Massachusetts; a representative of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, a representative of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, a school resource officer currently employed in the commonwealth, appointed by the Massachusetts Juvenile Police Officer’s Association; the secretary of the executive office of public safety, or a designee; a representative from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, appointed by the executive director.
The commission shall study the need for enhanced safety and emergency preparedness in the public schools of the commonwealth, which study shall include, but not be limited to, the following topics:
Secure school entrances and vestibules
Enhanced Telecommunication between school administration and public safety agencies
Video monitoring of classrooms
Use of interlocking devices in classrooms
Bullet-proof windows in schools
Classroom door policy
Use of retired local and state police personnel as School Resource Officers.
The ALICE (Alert-Lockdown-Inform-Counter-Evacuate) Program
The commission shall submit a report of its findings along with any recommendations and suggested legislative or executive actions to the joint committee on public safety and to the joint committee on education and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate no later than 1 year after the first meeting of the commission.
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