Pennsylvania school emergency plan law

Does Pennsylvania require schools to have an emergency plan?

Pennsylvania law, 35 Pa.C.S. § 7701(g), requires every school district to develop and carry out a comprehensive disaster response and emergency preparedness plan, in cooperation with the local emergency management agency and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA). The plan must be consistent with PEMA's guidelines and other relevant state requirements. The statute places the duty on "every school district"; it does not name the body that adopts the plan, such as the school board, or require a separate plan for each building. A state regulation, 22 Pa. Code § 10.24, repeats the duty for each school district. In an emergency, a school district must follow the procedures in its plan.

What must go with the plan?

In developing the plan, a school district must consider the National Incident Management System (NIMS) framework. By September 30 each year, a school entity must assemble emergency response information and have it ready to deploy right away to the Incident Command Post set under its plan.

PEMA publishes a Model Emergency Operations Plan for Schools and encourages schools to use its template to create or update a plan; this is guidance, not a requirement.

How often must the plan be reviewed?

The plan must be reviewed every year and changed as needed. Schools must hold at least one disaster response or emergency preparedness plan drill every year.

Who gets a copy of the plan?

Neither the statute nor the regulation sets a deadline for sending these copies.

Does the plan involve police and fire?

Each chief school administrator must sign and update a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with each local police department every two years. By statute, the chief school administrator must file that MOU with the Department of Education, first by June 30, 2024, and re-sign and re-file it every two years. The School Code calls for regulations with a protocol under which the school entity notifies law enforcement and gives it a copy of the plan. The School Safety and Security Committee must issue those regulations no later than three years after that section took effect; it was added by Act 33 of 2023 on December 13, 2023. As of the official Pa. Code site's update through August 8, 2026, those replacement regulations had not been added to Chapter 10, which still carried only its 2012 rules, including § 10.24 and the police MOU. The school safety and security coordinator must arrange a tour of buildings and grounds with the primary law enforcement agencies and first responders every two years, or when a building is first occupied or reconfigured.

Who oversees school safety in each school entity?

Each school entity's chief school administrator must appoint a school administrator as school safety and security coordinator. The coordinator must review the school entity's safety and security policies and procedures and check that they meet federal and state law. Since Act 47 of 2025, the coordinator must hold safety and security meetings with school and building leadership at least every quarter. The coordinator must report to the board by June 30 each year on current safety and security practices. Each school entity must set up at least one threat assessment team.

What training is required?

Employee safety training must cover emergency training drills every year, including fire, natural disaster, active shooter, hostage situation and bomb threat. That emergency drill training must be in person, and employees must complete at least one hour of the yearly training. Since Act 47 of 2025, the coordinator must meet with school employees once a year for input on safety training.

Is the plan confidential?

Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law exempts records whose release would create a reasonable likelihood of endangering the safety or physical security of a building or facility. An agency that withholds a record under an exception like that one must prove the exception applies, by a preponderance of the evidence. The coordinator's yearly safety report goes to the School Safety and Security Committee and is not subject to the Right-to-Know Law. School maps and mapping data whose release would risk physical harm or the personal security of students or staff stay confidential.

How is compliance checked?

The plan statute, § 7701(g), contains no penalty, sanction or enforcement mechanism for a district that fails to write, review or share its plan. The 22 Pa. Code Chapter 10 rules, which include the § 10.24 plan rules, are enforced by the School Safety and Security Committee, with the Department of Education and the State Board. State school safety and security assessment criteria include a review of the school entity's existing crisis response and mitigation plans. State school safety grants may pay for districtwide emergency preparedness and all-hazards plans, including updates.

What has changed recently, and what bills are pending?

The current text of § 7701 was last amended by Act 73 of 2004, and 22 Pa. Code Chapter 10 took effect July 21, 2012. Act 20 of 2026, signed July 12, 2026, added school mapping services: maps bought under a state-funded mapping contract must include accurate floor plans laid over current, verified aerial imagery of the campus. Mapping providers must give the maps to authorized law enforcement and emergency responders at no cost, with the school's permission. Before signing a mapping contract, a school entity must get written approval from the law enforcement agencies it has an MOU with; nonpublic schools and other school entities need written approval from the agency with primary jurisdiction. Act 17 of 2026 (SB 375, Greg Moyer's Law), approved May 13, 2026, requires each school entity and nonpublic school that takes part in interscholastic athletics to develop or amend a cardiac emergency response plan. HB 634 (2025–2026) passed the House; its last action was referral to the Senate Education Committee on October 13, 2026. Under HB 634, a school entity using a panic alarm system and its primary law enforcement agency would have to write response protocols together, consistent with the plan.