New Hampshire school emergency plan law

Does New Hampshire require schools to have an emergency plan?

New Hampshire law requires every public, chartered public and nonpublic school to develop a site-specific school emergency operations plan, built on and conforming to ICS and NIMS (the national incident command and incident management systems). The duty sits with each school; the law does not say whether the school board, superintendent or principal adopts the plan. Each school must file its plan with the director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM), Department of Safety, by October 15 each year. State guidance says a school needs an emergency operations plan to operate.

What must the plan contain?

The plan must address hazards including, but not limited to, acts of violence, biological incidents, civil unrest, cyber incidents, drought, earthquakes, extreme temperatures, floods, hurricanes and severe storms, hazardous materials releases, medical emergencies, structural fire, threats, tornadoes, wildfire and winter storms. The hazard list also covers any other hazard that school officials and local emergency authorities consider necessary. Schools inside the emergency planning zone must address radiological emergencies in the plan. The plan must provide that at least 4 of the required fire evacuation drills are all-hazard response drills, and at least one of those must test the response to an armed assailant. The statute's list is a hazard list only; it does not name reunification, communication or mass notification, recovery or mental health, or students with disabilities as required plan elements. Submitting a building floor plan diagram to HSEM is optional and needs the local school board's approval. State guidance says the plan must also meet RSA 200:40-c (the sports-injury emergency action plan law) and, inside the Seabrook Station planning zone, FEMA's NUREG-0654.

How often must the plan be reviewed?

Each school must review its plan at least once a year, update it as needed, and submit the updated plan to the HSEM director by October 15. If the plan is unchanged after review, the school must notify the Department of Safety by October 15. HSEM's checklist says plans are reviewed every year, updated as needed and submitted to HSEM by October 15 through a secure portal.

How is the plan filed?

The Department of Education must be given access to all plans. HSEM's portal page tells schools that every New Hampshire school must submit its plan by October 15 each year. Schools submit through HSEM's online School Readiness Portal, which has them complete a self-assessment and upload the plan. For just cause, the HSEM director may grant up to a 30-day extension of the deadline, and requests go through the same portal. The Department of Education rule for first approval of a K-12 school facility requires proof that a current site-specific plan is filed with HSEM. That facility-approval packet is due to the Department of Education no later than 60 days before students occupy the building.

Does the plan involve police and fire?

Each school must provide its plan to local emergency authorities, coordinate it with them, and coordinate it with the town or city's emergency operations plan. The school decides the types, manner and timing of all-hazard drills and exercises together with local public safety, emergency management and public health officials. HSEM's checklist says plan development should be coordinated with local emergency response agencies, the local emergency management director, SAU leadership and the district's other schools.

Is training tied to the plan?

On request, the HSEM director must help schools with training and support for developing, carrying out and reviewing their plans.

Is the plan confidential?

New Hampshire's Right-to-Know law exempts records on preparing for and carrying out emergency functions that local or state safety officials develop to thwart a deliberate act causing widespread damage or loss of life; the law does not say whether that covers school plans.

What happens if a school misses the deadline?

If a school entity misses the plan deadline two years in a row, the HSEM director must notify the Department of Education.

What has changed recently?

The official RSA compilation lists the latest amendment to RSA 189:64 as 2022, chapter 187:2, effective June 17, 2022. HB 1503 (2026), Chapter 38, added critical incident mapping technology for public school emergency readiness as something the Public School Infrastructure Fund may pay for; it was approved and took effect April 22, 2026. That funding is optional: the commission may authorize the Department of Education to pay for it. A separate law, amended in 2025 by HB 763 (Chapter 209), requires the local board of each school district, or the governing body of each nonpublic school, that includes any of grades 4 through 12 to set up an emergency action plan for serious sports-related injuries.