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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2023 - 2024
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 3, 2023 12:57 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Stephen Kinsey and Rep. Emily Kinkead |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Fire and Emergency Drill Compliance |
| With incidences of both natural and manmade disasters steadily increasing, it is school children who remain the most vulnerable. Pennsylvania law requires public schools to conduct monthly fire or emergency drills while school is in session, for a total of 10 each year. However, reports have shown that only a small percentage of Philadelphia schools are complying with this recommendation. Similarly, Allegheny County Schools, during the 2019-2020 school year, reported that only 3 of the 72 local education agencies (LEAs) documented full compliance at all their locations for performing fire drills, while other reports indicated that same drill were held when pupils were not even on school premises. Fire and emergency drills are important life-saving measures that ensure students and teachers are prepared in the event that an emergency occurs and they need to evacuate the school building. Therefore, we are proposing to improve the transparency, compliance, and efficiency of fire and emergency drills for all school districts by introducing legislation that will ensure that all schools across the Commonwealth are conducting and accurately documenting required fire drills, school security drills, and emergency evacuation drills. The goal of this legislation is to improve public awareness of mandatory school emergency drills, ensure that all schools are conducting drills appropriately and to provide accountability to parents and taxpayers. Please join us in co-sponsoring this much needed legislation. |
Introduced as HB582