New Hampshire school drill law

What drills does New Hampshire require?

Every public, chartered public and nonpublic school must develop a site-specific school emergency operations plan. That plan must provide that at least 4 of the currently required fire evacuation drills are emergency, all-hazard response drills, and at least one of those must test the response to an armed assailant. The armed assailant drill may be discussion based (a talk-through rather than a full exercise).

RSA 189:64, III sets no school bus drill and no reunification drill; the drills it covers are the all-hazard response drills counted among the required fire evacuation drills.

How many fire drills does the fire code call for?

The State Fire Marshal's August 2024 drill guidance for K-12 schools says the law requires six fire evacuation drills and four all-hazard drills during the school year, ten in all, applying RSA 189:64 and the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101, 2021 edition). The same guidance says at least one emergency drill must be held every month school is in session, typically ten a year. Where the weather is severe, once four drills are done the remaining six can be put off until the weather improves. It also says that in a school building not open year-round, two fire evacuation drills must be held within the first 30 days of school. The state fire code amendment for the 2024 Life Safety Code (Saf-FMO 304.01(d), effective July 27, 2026) repeats the RSA 189:64 all-hazard drill rule for schools and adds that it operates with the approval of the local fire official.

Who decides the drill types and timing?

The school decides the types of all-hazard drills and exercises, and how and when they take place, together with local public safety, emergency management and public health officials. The school may include students and first responders in all-hazard response drills, as appropriate. The first emergency operations plan drill must be held within one year of finishing the plan. The plan must address hazards including acts of violence, earthquakes, severe storms and others. This is a planning duty, not a drill duty.

What has to be reported to the state?

Schools must submit the plan to the director of homeland security and emergency management, department of safety, by October 15 each year. Each school must review its plan at least once a year and submit the updated plan by October 15. If the reviewed plan is unchanged, the school must tell the department of safety by October 15. Each school must also give its plan to local emergency authorities and coordinate it with them and with the town or city's emergency operations plan. For just cause, the director of homeland security and emergency management may give a school up to a 30-day extension to the October 15 deadline. If a school misses the plan deadline 2 years in a row, the director must notify the Department of Education. RSA 189:64, III sets no drill log or drill certification; the reporting duties in RSA 189:64 concern the emergency operations plan, not individual drills.

Do parents get notice, and are realistic drills limited?

RSA 189:64, III sets no parent notice requirement for drills. It sets no student opt-out and no limit on simulated gunfire or role-played attackers. Its only related wording is that the armed assailant drill may be discussion based.

Who's covered?

The emergency operations plan law covers public, chartered public and nonpublic schools.

What has changed recently?

RSA 189:64 was amended in 2022, effective June 17, 2022. The state fire code now adopts the 2024 editions of the Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) and NFPA 1, under a 2026 law effective July 27, 2026.