Oregon school emergency plan law

Does Oregon require schools to have an emergency plan?

Oregon law requires each school district to maintain a comprehensive safety program for all students and staff. Every school must also have emergency safeguards to protect the safety and well-being of students and staff. That safeguards law, ORS 339.408, covers K-12 public and private schools, including public charter schools, and any educational institution with an average daily attendance of 50 or more students. A Department of Education (ODE) rule requires the governing body to maintain a comprehensive safety plan for all employees and students. Under that rule, "governing body" includes a charter school's governing body and an education service district (ESD) for buildings it manages with an average daily attendance of 50 or more students.

What must the plan contain?

The law defines lockdown as a procedure used when a threat or hazard is inside the building. That statutory list does not name reunification, incident command, floor plans, students with disabilities, recovery or mental health, or cybersecurity. The ODE rule requires the comprehensive safety plan to include the emergency procedures it defines plus plans for communicable disease management and responding to medical emergencies. A school's emergency safeguards must include policies and procedures on school building security. Each school building must have a written plan for responding to medical emergencies, and the rule says that plan should be coordinated with the building and district general emergency plans. Each district board must adopt a policy for notifying the school community when a school takes a safety threat action, and that policy must have parents and guardians of students at that school get an electronic message no later than 24 hours after the action begins. ODE guidance says an emergency communications plan and a lockdown plan are required, with one lockdown drill a year.

How often must the plan be reviewed?

Each governing body must review its comprehensive safety plan and security policies for compliance with the rule every two years. During that review, the governing body must consider installing emergency alert systems, and one without such a system must record its discussion in its meeting minutes. When reviewing building-security policies, the governing body must consider installing a panic alarm system.

What drills and training go with the plan?

Each school must have at least one staff member with a current first aid, CPR and AED card for every 60 students enrolled, trained every year on the district and building emergency plans. Under the 2025 Oregon Fire Code (the 2024 International Fire Code as amended by the State Fire Marshal), which the State Fire Marshal rule OAR 837-040-0010 adopts effective October 1, 2025, school (Group E) buildings must have an approved fire safety and evacuation plan. Under that code, a school's first emergency evacuation drill of each school year must be held within 10 days of the start of classes.

Does the plan involve police and fire?

Local government units and state agencies involved in emergency procedures training and planning have duties toward schools under ORS 339.408. Those agencies must review the emergency procedures and safeguards schools propose, and must help schools instruct and drill students in emergency procedures. Under the Statewide School Safety and Prevention System, multidisciplinary school safety assessment teams must be made available to help each district and ESD assess students who pose a threat of violence.

Is the plan confidential?

Oregon's public records law conditionally exempts records that would reveal security measures, or weaknesses in them. Those exemptions are conditional and give way when the public interest requires disclosure. Under Oregon's public meetings law, a governing body may hold an executive (closed) session to consider school safety or a plan that responds to safety threats made toward a school.

How is compliance checked?

Districts must meet the state standards in OAR chapter 581, division 22, and must report compliance with all division 22 standards to ODE by November 15. If a district's standards deficiencies are not corrected, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may withhold State School Fund money. The State Board of Education may adopt rules on the safety program.

What has changed recently?

HB 3038 (Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 386), which holds the comprehensive safety program language, took effect June 24, 2025. HB 3083 (Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 208), which added the panic alarm consideration, took effect January 1, 2026. The ODE safety plan rule, OAR 581-022-2225, was last amended effective May 29, 2026. HB 4160 (2026), approved by the Governor on March 31, 2026 as Oregon Laws 2026, chapter 72, will require every K-12 public or private school to have a cardiac emergency response plan and will add it to the district safety program's medical-emergency procedures. The cardiac plan will have to be reviewed every year, including whether the school follows it, and will have to set a way to share AED locations with local EMS providers. HB 4160 takes effect July 1, 2027. HB 2182 (2025), an ODE school safety cost study, died in the House Education Committee when the 2025 session adjourned on June 27, 2025.