Mississippi school emergency plan law

What does Mississippi require of school safety plans?

Miss. Code Ann. § 37-3-83(2) requires the school board of each school district to adopt a comprehensive district school safety plan, with help from the MDE (Mississippi Department of Education) School Safety Center, and to update it every year. Under state Accountability Standard 31, each school must have a comprehensive School Safety Plan on file, approved every year by the local school board. The Accountability Standards define the School Safety Plan as the foundation document a school uses to keep a safe and secure learning environment.

Who must have a plan?

The statute puts the plan duty on each school district's board, and Standard 31 applies to each school. For charter schools, the law points two ways: they are subject to the same health and safety requirements as other public schools unless the charter chapter says otherwise, but Title 37 duties placed on "school districts" or "school boards" do not include them unless a statute says so, and MDE rules do not apply unless the authorizer or charter contract requires it. Accreditation by MDE is voluntary for private schools; those that are accredited must each have a comprehensive School Safety Plan on file, approved every year by their governing body.

What must the plan contain?

The statute makes biennial staff training on mental health and suicide prevention a component of the district plan (see training below). As an optional part of the plan, a school board may adopt an "Erin's Law Awareness" policy on child sexual abuse. Standard 31 names the Mississippi School Safety Manual among its sources. The Manual is codified as Title 7, Part 192 of the state Administrative Code, and it also calls itself a guide for emergency planning. Under the codified Manual, the plan must list crisis response protocols, covering all staff actions, for at least these events:

MDE's web copy of the Manual also says each school must name two family reunification points and two evacuation locations, with maps. It says staff roles must be identified, all staff must know the crisis response plan, and classrooms need a way to secure the door for a lockdown, a copy of the room-level plan and emergency packs that list students' special needs. It also calls for two-way communication between school administration and key staff, utility shut-off valves marked on the school map, and a district team from several disciplines to assess threats. The Manual cites § 37-3-101 for its crisis protocols, but that statute, as last amended in 2017, requires only a student suicide prevention policy and staff suicide prevention training.

How often is the plan reviewed?

The district plan must be updated every year. Under the codified Manual, the plan must be reviewed or revised every summer and approved by the school board every year. A district that asks for a state crisis response team may also ask for a review of its safety plan, and the board may publish the results in a newspaper.

Is the plan submitted, and to whom?

The statute's plan provision requires the board to adopt and update the plan; it sets no duty to file it with any agency or to develop it with first responders. Standard 31 requires only that each school's plan be on file and approved each year; it sets no duty to send it to MDE, law enforcement, fire or emergency management.

How do schools work with police, fire and emergency management?

Under the codified Manual, the plan is drafted by a safety committee that includes community responders, and each entity involved must review it and sign off. It says emergency services (fire, emergency management, law enforcement and EMS) must be included in safety planning, exercises and evaluations. A certified threat assessment officer must do a yearly inspection and threat assessment of each public school, including surveillance equipment and building floor plans, and write an improvement plan for each school. The findings and improvement plan must go to local law enforcement and the school board within four weeks. The school resource officer statute (§ 37-3-82) states that officers assigned to schools play an integral part in developing a school safety plan; this is a statement of purpose, not a duty on districts.

What training goes with the plan?

As a component of the district plan, MDE must require districts to give all school employees refresher training on mental health and suicide prevention every two years, and districts must report completion to MDE.

Is the plan confidential?

School safety plan documents containing the preventive services listed in § 37-3-83 are exempt from the Mississippi Public Records Act. That exemption took effect July 1, 2016, and is unchanged since then.

How is it checked?

Violating Standards 29, 30 and 31 (safe school climate) can lead to a district's accreditation being downgraded to Probation. The rule in force is the Mississippi Public School Accountability Standards 2026, Part 24 of Title 7. To qualify for a school safety grant, a school board must set up a local School Safety Task Force.

What changed recently?

2024 HB 4130, approved May 8, 2024, amended § 37-3-83 and took effect July 1, 2024. No 2025 or 2026 bill amending § 37-3-83 was enacted. 2026 SB 2294, which changed which laws apply to charter schools, took effect July 1, 2026. These 2026 bills died in committee on February 3, 2026: HB 1490 (which brought § 37-3-83 forward for possible change), HB 1132 and SB 2511 (a statewide behavioral threat assessment program), HB 356 (a School Risk Management Task Force), SB 2066 (safe-school plans for students with special needs) and HB 893 (elopement plans for students with autism or intellectual disabilities). In 2025, SB 2538 (district and charter agreements with local law enforcement for threat assessment officers), HB 672 and HB 878 died in committee on February 4, 2025. 2025 HB 1139, the only 2025 bill listed for the records exemption section, died in Senate committee on March 4, 2025.