HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1479

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO School safety.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that schools should be places of safety and security for children of all ages.  However, recent events, including the tragic December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, highlighted the need to re-evaluate safety procedures currently in place.  Although the department of education has safety measures in place, the legislature finds that most of the department's classroom doors can only lock from the outside, and not the inside.

     The purpose of this Act is to enhance school safety by requiring the department of education to install and maintain classroom doors that can be locked and unlocked in certain emergency situations.

     SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§  -     School doors.      (a)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, before July 1, 2015, all classroom doors of every school building of the department of education shall have the capacity to be:

     (1)  Locked from the inside of the classroom; provided that the door shall not have the capacity to be locked from the inside without the use of a:

          (A)  Key;

          (B)  Combination code; or

          (C)  Mechanism that is remotely controlled by the school's principal or the principal's designee;

     (2)  Unlocked from the outside of the classroom; provided that the door shall not have the capacity to be unlocked from the outside without the use of one of the mechanisms described in subparagraphs (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1); and

     (3)  Easily opened from the inside of the classroom without the use of any key or other special unlocking mechanism.

     (b)  Doors installed pursuant to subsection (a) shall only be locked pursuant to departmental guidelines issued by the superintendent of education or a designee.

     (c)  In the absence of a finding of gross negligence, neither the department of education, nor the superintendent, nor a principal, nor a principal's designee shall be liable in any civil action for injuries suffered as a result of a determination made to:

     (1)  Issue relevant departmental guidelines regarding the locking of classroom doors installed pursuant to subsection (a); or

     (2)  Lock or unlock a school building's classroom door installed pursuant to subsection (a).

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.

     SECTION 5.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 



 

Report Title:

School Safety; Classroom Doors

 

Description:

Requires the department of education to install and maintain classroom doors that can be locked and unlocked in certain emergency situations.

 

 

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