Alabama school drill law

Which drills does Alabama require, and how often?

The State Fire Marshal must require officials and teachers of public and private schools to hold at least one emergency drill each month. For that monthly duty, an emergency drill includes, but is not limited to, a fire drill, a severe weather drill or a school lockdown drill. The school safety law says emergency drills include, but are not limited to, safety, security, severe weather, fire and school lockdown drills.

How many of the monthly drills must be fire drills?

Ala. Code § 36-19-10 sets one count for all emergency drills (at least one each month) and does not say how many must be fire drills; any listed drill type may count. The State Fire Marshal's school-buildings rule, 482-2-102-.01, sets seasonal severe weather drills but sets no fire drill count; its only drill provision is the severe weather paragraph.

When must lockdown and severe weather drills happen?

The principal or a designee must hold a school lockdown drill during the first six weeks of both the fall and spring semesters each school year. A State Fire Marshal rule for buildings used as schools requires severe weather drills seasonally: one in September through November and one in January through March. An August 2025 memo from ALSDE (the Alabama State Department of Education) says one drill is required each month when students are on school grounds. The same guidance schedules severe weather drills in September, October or November and in January, February or March, and lockdown or intruder drills in the first six weeks of each semester.

What does the adopted fire code add?

The State Fire Marshal has adopted the 2021 International Fire Code (IFC), with Appendices B, C, D, E and M, by reference. The adoption rule says that code is to be used for projects whose architectural services contract is dated on or after the rule's effective date; it does not separately say how the code's drill provisions apply to existing school buildings. For educational occupancies (school buildings), the 2021 IFC requires the first evacuation drill of each school year within 10 days of the start of classes. The IFC requires evacuation drills at different times of day, such as class changes, assemblies and recess, so drills can't be told apart from real fires. Under the IFC, lockdown drills cannot be substituted for the required fire and evacuation drills. The IFC requires drills to be designed in cooperation with the local authorities. Where the fire code official requires it, the IFC requires advance notice of evacuation drills to that official.

What must principals and district safety coordinators do?

The principal or a designee must teach students the procedures for emergency drills and evacuations. Along with drills or evacuations, the principal must also teach students safety steps for a severe weather watch, alert or warning. The principal must make sure all safety and security drills are held at no less than what state or federal law requires. The principal must hold a yearly training for school employees on the lockdown plan, drills and procedures, and that training must include mental health awareness. A principal or designee who knowingly neglects or refuses to follow the school safety law faces appropriate disciplinary action. Under the 2024 School Security Act, each local board of education must name a central-office employee as the district safety coordinator. Each district safety coordinator must organize, run and attend at least one school-based lockdown drill and one other safety drill per semester, and review each with the school's building administrator.

Do drills need to be logged or reported?

Under the adopted 2021 IFC, records must be kept of required evacuation drills, including who ran the drill, its date and time, how many were evacuated, problems encountered and the time to evacuate fully. The 2025 ALSDE memo refers to records kept in nSide, the state's emergency operations planning (EOP) platform. ALSDE's 2023 guidance lists an Annual Multi-Drill Report. These are department guidance, not a statute.

Must parents be told, and are there limits on realistic drills?

The lockdown drill subsection, Ala. Code § 16-1-44(g), sets no parent notice, opt-out or limit on how realistic a drill may be. The general drill subsection, § 16-1-44(e), sets no parent notice, reporting deadline, opt-out or limit on how realistic a drill may be.

What role do law enforcement and fire officials play?

Each local board of education must adopt a school emergency operations plan for each of its schools. In writing each plan, the board must involve local law enforcement, safety, fire and emergency management officials assigned to the school. The board must give law enforcement and fire department staff access to each school so they can prepare to respond to threats and emergencies. Each emergency protocol must include notifying law enforcement and emergency responders and informing parents of affected students; this is about responding to real threats and emergencies. The district safety coordinator must make sure at least one local law enforcement officer and at least one local firefighter attend the coordinator's meeting under the School Security Act. The lockdown drill subsection, § 16-1-44(g), does not require law enforcement to take part in drills. 2023 HB42, which would have required school resource officers and law enforcement to take part in lockdown drills, was referred to the House Education Policy committee on Feb. 23, 2023 and had no further action; the legislature's site lists it as Pending, and it was not enacted.

Who is covered?

The monthly emergency drill duty covers public and private schools and educational institutions. The lockdown drill, training and emergency plan duties sit with each local board of education and its principals. The School Security Act, including the district safety coordinator's drills, covers public K-12 schools. The State Fire Marshal school-buildings standards, including the severe weather drill rule, apply to all buildings occupied and used as schools. Alabama's charter school law makes public charter schools subject to the same health and safety requirements as other public schools, except as the charter chapter provides. The same law also exempts public charter schools from the state's education statutes except as the charter chapter provides, and it does not name § 16-1-44 or school drills either way.

What has changed recently?

The school safety law, Ala. Code § 16-1-44, was last amended by Act 2021-424 (2021 HB97); its official history lists no 2022-2026 act. The monthly drill law, § 36-19-10, lists no act after Act 2019-533 in its official history. Starting in the 2025-2026 school year, each local board of education and each nonpublic school's governing body must have a cardiac emergency response plan. Each cardiac emergency response plan must include requirements for practicing the emergency response, including drills. That law, § 16-30D-21, was enacted by Act 2024-392 and last amended by Act 2025-347 (2025 HB416).