Massachusetts school emergency plan law
What Massachusetts requires of school emergency operations plans: who writes them, what goes in them, and how often they're reviewed.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 26, 2026
What does Massachusetts require of school emergency plans?
Massachusetts law requires two school plans. Under St. 2000, c. 159, § 363, before each school year the superintendent must meet with the fire and police chiefs to formulate a school-specific multi-hazard evacuation plan for each school. Under M.G.L. c. 69 § 8A, each school committee and commonwealth charter school board must make sure every school has a written emergency response plan for medical and behavioral health crises. That medical and behavioral health plan is in addition to the multi-hazard evacuation plan. The state's 2026-2027 school safety memo, from DESE (Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and the Department of Fire Services, still lists § 363 as a current requirement.
Who must have a plan?
The multi-hazard plan duty falls on school district superintendents, for each school building. The medical and behavioral health plan covers schools under school committees and commonwealth charter school boards. Districts, charter schools, approved private day or residential schools and collaborative schools must have a mental health plan that covers emergency and acute treatment after a crisis, and a § 8A plan satisfies that part. A DESE regulation covers public and private day and residential special education schools serving publicly funded students, and requires them to set up and post a written emergency plan covering staff assignments, alarm use, notification and evacuation routes.
What must the multi-hazard evacuation plan contain?
| The plan must include | Source |
|---|---|
| Evacuations for fires, hurricanes and other storms or disasters, shootings and other terrorist activities, and bomb threats | St. 2000, c. 159, § 363 |
| A design for each building, after a review of that building | § 363 |
| A crisis response team, a designated person in charge with substitutes, and a communication plan | § 363 |
| Crisis procedures for safe entrance and exit, and policies for keeping order during the crisis | § 363 |
The list is open-ended ("shall include, but not be limited to") and does not name reunification, students with disabilities, cybersecurity or threat assessment. State guidance says lockdown plans may be folded into the multi-hazard evacuation plan.
What must the medical and behavioral health plan contain?
| The plan must include | Source |
|---|---|
| A rapid communication system linking all parts of campus to emergency medical or behavioral health crisis services | M.G.L. c. 69 § 8A(b)(1) |
| A contact list with call protocols, including professionals for support after the emergency | § 8A(b)(3) |
| A way to direct EMS or crisis responders to any campus location and to rescue equipment | § 8A(b)(4) |
| Protocols for telling parents, and reporting to DESE, when police or other non-behavioral health responders answer a behavioral health crisis | § 8A(b)(5) |
| A way to give staff access to CPR and first-aid training | § 8A(b)(7) |
| The location of any AED and the staff trained to use it | § 8A(b)(8) |
That list does not name reunification, students with disabilities, cybersecurity or threat assessment.
How often are the plans reviewed?
Each district, with help from the local police and fire departments, must review the multi-hazard evacuation plan every year and update it as appropriate. For the § 8A plan, school officials must review the response sequence with local fire and police at least once a year and do periodic campus walk-throughs. Schools must practice the § 8A response sequence each year and evaluate and change the plan as needed. The § 8A plan must also be updated after new construction or physical changes to campus, as local police or fire decide. The § 37Q mental health plan must be reviewed and updated before September 1 each year.
Are the plans submitted, and to whom?
The multi-hazard plan law sets no duty to file the plan with DESE or any other state agency; it is made with the local fire and police chiefs and reviewed with them. § 8A plans must be submitted every three years to DESE and the local police and fire departments, by September 1 of the third year, with a report on AED availability in each school. DESE says updated § 8A plans were due by September 1, 2024. DESE asks superintendents to submit plans for their schools and encourages using its Security Portal drop box.
How do schools work with police, fire and emergency management?
The § 8A plan must be developed with school staff and local police, fire, mobile crisis and emergency responders, as appropriate. Every school must, subject to funding, have a two-way device used only for emergency communication with police and fire. The MSBA (Massachusetts School Building Authority) must send approved plans or blueprints of funded school construction to local police, fire, MEMA and regional law enforcement, showing points of entry, emergency access routes and other public safety features.
What does the fire code require?
The Massachusetts Fire Code, 527 CMR 1.00, adopts NFPA 1 (2021 edition) with Massachusetts amendments. Under NFPA 1 (2021) as Massachusetts's Fire Code amends it, educational occupancies must have emergency action plans, and the rules apply to new and existing educational occupancies. The responsible school official must write a fire protection and evacuation plan with alternate exits, and the head of the fire department must approve it. Each class instructor or supervisor must be taught the fire drill procedures for their room or area before taking up those duties. Every student must be told the fire drill procedure or take part in a fire drill within three days of entering a school. Schools must keep fire drill records on site and file written drill reports with the head of the fire department at least twice a year.
What training goes with the plans?
Students at each school must be taught the multi-hazard plan at the start of each school year. State guidance recommends putting answers to hazard questions in the plan and practicing them through staff training exercises.
Are the plans confidential?
The Public Records Law exempts records about security measures, emergency preparedness and threat or vulnerability assessments, but only where the records custodian reasonably judges that disclosure is likely to put public safety at risk. School building plans sent to police and fire under c. 70B § 20 are confidential and not public records.
What state help is there?
DESE must review and update its model emergency response plan every two years and post it publicly. DESE posts a model medical and behavioral emergency response plan dated February 2026.
What bills are pending?
Pending H.749 would require a school-specific critical incident plan for each school, formulated with the fire and police chiefs; it was reported favorably and referred to House Ways and Means. Pending H.753 would require districts to submit an active-shooter policy every year by December 31 and would exempt those plans from public records. Pending H.710 would require each school, with local police, to set critical incident response protocols. S.450, which would have created a DESE school safety resource officer to evaluate school safety plans, was sent to a study order. H.883 (an emergency preparedness awareness program) was reported favorably on January 8, 2026, and sent to House Ways and Means; it does not require or change any school emergency plan. Panic alarm bills H.741 and H.623 are in the Joint Committee on Education, each with a last action of a hearing scheduled for May 12, 2025; neither has an emergency plan provision.
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 Massachusetts's requirements; that reading belongs to your district and its counsel.