North Carolina school emergency plan law

Does North Carolina require schools to have an emergency plan?

North Carolina law requires each local board of education, working with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies, to adopt a School Risk Management Plan (SRMP) on incidents of school violence for each school it oversees. Local boards must build and maintain the plans in the state School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS). The Division of Emergency Management and the Center for Safer Schools must build and maintain that statewide system. The board of trustees of the schools for the deaf and blind must adopt an SRMP in coordination with local law enforcement.

Who else is covered?

Charter schools and laboratory schools must comply with the public school unit requirements in Part 2 of Article 8C of Chapter 115C, which include the school safety exercises, schematic diagrams and emergency response information. From July 1, 2026, the regional school must comply with those same Part 2 requirements under a new statute. Private church schools, schools of religious charter and qualified nonpublic schools are only encouraged to adopt an SRMP in coordination with local law enforcement.

What must the plan contain?

The statute that requires the SRMP does not list what the plan must contain; it says only that the plan relates to incidents of school violence and is built in the state system. The Division of Emergency Management and the Center for Safer Schools must give public school units guidance on which hazards to plan for and respond to, including intruders on school grounds. Each public school unit must give the Division of Emergency Management schematic diagrams and the emergency response information the Division requests for the SRMP. An SRMP may authorize a 911-initiated panic alarm system, which the state system connects where technically possible. Principals may place school crisis kits in coordination with the law enforcement agencies that are part of the unit's SRMP. The state emergency management agency's SRMP site describes what the plan documents: the school's profile, assets, vulnerabilities and emergency procedures. Its About page says the system gives structured guidance across readiness, response and recovery for a wide range of hazards and threats.

How often must the plan be reviewed?

The statute that requires the SRMP sets no review or update schedule for the plan itself. At least once a year, each public school unit must have each of its schools hold a full school-wide tabletop exercise and drill based on the procedures in its SRMP. One purpose of that yearly exercise and drill is to find where the SRMP needs to change. Each school is encouraged to hold a tabletop exercise and drill for the multiple hazards in its SRMP. The state's SRMP site says the plan should be updated at least once a year.

Who gets the plan information?

The Division must store the diagrams and emergency response information securely and share them with first responders, emergency personnel and school staff as the SRMP provides. SRMP data feeds the state's SERA system, which gives first responders the school's key assets, vulnerabilities and procedures during emergencies.

Does the plan involve police and fire?

Local boards adopt the SRMP in coordination with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies. Schools are strongly encouraged, but not required, to include local law enforcement and emergency management agencies in their tabletop exercises and drills.

Is training tied to the plan?

The Center for Safer Schools must provide training, as needed, on reunifying schools and school districts after an incident.

Is the plan confidential?

School Risk Management Plans are not public records and are not open to public inspection. Schematic diagrams, including those given to the Division, and the emergency response information given to the Division are not public records. All data and information stored in the state system are not public records. A public school unit's threat assessment policies must not reveal information that the SRMP law keeps out of public records.

What has changed recently, and what bills are pending?

S.L. 2026-41 (S257, the 2026 Appropriations Act) was ratified July 2, 2026 and approved July 7, 2026, and unless a section says otherwise it took effect July 1, 2026. It adds access to school mapping data to what public school units must give law enforcement and the Division of Emergency Management. Under its new Critical Incident School Mapping Program, mapping data must include floor plans of each school laid over imagery of the school grounds. Each school unit's governing body, in consultation with its primary local law enforcement agency, must contract with an authorized vendor for the mapping, with contracting and procurement completed by January 31, 2027. The same law requires the governing body of each public school unit to develop a cardiac emergency response plan, reviewed and updated every year, starting with the 2026–27 school year. School officials must work with local emergency service providers to fit that cardiac plan into local EMS protocols. It also repealed the old regional schools part of Chapter 115C, effective July 1, 2026. Pending H816 would make nonpublic schools that accept scholarship students follow Article 8C, including adopting an SRMP in coordination with local law enforcement; its last action was referral to the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations committee on April 8, 2025. H1184 has the same proposed SRMP duty; its last action was referral to the same committee on May 5, 2026.