Kansas school emergency plan rule
What Kansas requires of school emergency operations plans: who writes one, what goes in it, and who sees it.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 26, 2026
What does Kansas require of school emergency plans?
Kansas's standing plan duty comes from a State Board of Education standard: Safe and Secure School Standard 5 requires school districts to have an up-to-date school safety and security plan (crisis plan) approved by the local board of education. KSDE's (Kansas State Department of Education) current school safety page says each district must maintain an up-to-date safety and security (crisis) plan approved by the local board. The State Board approved the Safe and Secure Schools Standards 10-0 at its December 11, 2018 meeting.
Where did the standards come from?
A 2018 appropriations law (House Substitute for SB 109) directed KSDE to require each school district to adopt a comprehensive school safety and security plan based on State Board standards. Those provisions were written for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. The law directed the State Board to adopt statewide standards for district plans and to identify roles and responsibilities for carrying them out at the district and building level. Under that 2018 law, before adopting a plan each district had to consult at least one local law enforcement agency and local emergency management agencies. The superintendent then had to send a copy of the adopted plan to each law enforcement agency consulted and to the State Board of Education. The law had the standards cover staff training and student drills, outside notification and communication with law enforcement, securing buildings, evacuation, recovery, and sharing plans with local law enforcement and emergency management. FY2019 school safety and security grant money had to be matched dollar for dollar by the district that received it.
What must the plan contain?
| Element | What the standard says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Visitors | A procedure for outside individuals who enter district buildings on business with school officials | Standard 5 |
| Securing buildings | Procedures for securing buildings during an emergency | Standard 5 |
| Evacuation and reunification | Evacuation and reunification plans, routes and sites | Standard 5 |
| Outside notification | A procedure to notify those not on school grounds, such as parents, during an emergency | Standard 4 |
| Communication matrix | How schools and first responders communicate during an emergency | Standard 3 |
| Recovery | The 2018 standard says the plan should (not must) discuss recovery; KSDE's current page lists recovery steps among required contents | Standard 5 |
How often is the plan reviewed?
Standard 5 requires an "up-to-date" plan but sets no review interval or submission deadline.
Is the plan submitted, and how do schools work with first responders?
The 2018 text of Standard 8 required districts to consult local law enforcement and emergency management on the crisis plan, including roles and responsibilities, before the local board approves it. The same text required the board-approved plan to be sent to the State Board of Education. It also required districts to make the approved plan available to law enforcement, emergency management and other first responders, and to staff on a need-to-know basis. KSDE's current page words this as advice: districts should work with law enforcement and emergency management to review plans before board approval, and should share approved plans with them and with staff on a need-to-know basis.
What training goes with the plan?
Standard 6 requires yearly emergency training for staff and students that reviews the public parts of the school's crisis plan. Standard 7 requires crisis drills to make sure plan procedures work.
What about tornadoes?
A separate statute, K.S.A. 31-133, has state fire marshal rules require public and private school administrators (other than community colleges, colleges and universities) to set tornado procedures. Those procedures must describe how tornado drills are run and are subject to the state fire marshal's approval. Under the fire marshal's rule, a school administrator must work with the local emergency management coordinator, where there is one, to set tornado safety procedures.
Is the plan confidential?
Under the Kansas Open Records Act, a public agency is not required to disclose emergency or security information or procedures if disclosure would jeopardize public safety. That exemption is permissive: the agency may withhold, but does not have to, unless other law requires disclosure. Each board of education must make district policies and reports on school safety and security available to students, parents, employees and, on request, others. The 2018 law had the State Board keep its standards confidential, to the extent they contain emergency or security information, when sending notices.
How is it checked?
Standard 7 requires school districts to set procedures that make sure crisis plans are carried out.
What changed recently?
SB 263 (2025-2026), which would have set standards for active shooter drills in public and accredited nonpublic schools died on the House calendar on April 10, 2026. SB 351 (2023-2024), which would have set policy requirements for school safety and security and cardiac emergency response plans, died. A non-binding 1999 resolution (HCR 5018) urged every public and private school to create a school crisis plan.
How can QuickSecure help?
SOPs keeps your emergency operations plan and procedures in one place, and staff can open them from their phones.
Each procedure keeps its version history, so you can see what changed and when.
You choose which roles can see each procedure, and staff confirm they've read it, so you can see who has.
During an Alert, your procedures become step-by-step checklists for each staff member.
This is not a statement that any product satisfies Kansas's requirements; that reading belongs to your district and its counsel.