Bill
LB 670
LB670 requires every school to adopt safety plans and expand staff training for child care, while empowering state school security director to set standards and coordinate drills.
LB670: Summary
Overview
- Purpose: Streamline Nebraska’s school safety framework and require schools to adopt and update formal safety plans. The bill also updates and expands training requirements for providers of child care and school-age-care programs, teachers, paraeducators, school resource officers, and governing boards of nonpublic schools. It reorganizes related duties among the state school security director and other agencies, and harmonizes several security- and transportation-related provisions.
- Status: Notice of hearing scheduled for February 4, 2025
- Introduced: January 22, 2025
- Sponsor/Committee: Introduced by Senator Dave Murman, Education Committee
Key Provisions
1) Child care and school-age-care training requirements (Section 43-2606)
- The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) shall adopt rules for mandatory staff training in child care and school-age-care programs.
- Training components include preservice orientation and annual inservice training; minimums include at least four hours of annual inservice training.
- Programs licensed under section 71-1911 must show completion of preservice orientation prior to receiving a provisional license.
- The Nebraska Early Childhood Professional Record System is used to document training levels and verify minimum training requirements starting in 2020.
- Training is designed to meet health, safety, and developmental needs and must cover topics such as infant death syndrome, abusive head trauma, crying plans, and child abuse.
- Providers must be offered training opportunities at registration/licensure, renewal, or on a yearly basis.
- The department will review/update rules at least every five years.
- Providers and programs must share training information with the department as required.
2) School safety planning requirements (Section 2)
- Each school district and each governing board of a nonpublic school must adopt and maintain a safety plan; may use the state school security director’s model safety plan as a guide.
- Plans must be updated annually and include:
- Fire drills and instruction on fire safety and prevention
- Tornado/Weather-related drills and related instruction
- Vehicle safety and emergency evacuation drills and instruction
- Any other safety/emergency drills deemed appropriate by the school board
- Each school district must provide its safety plan to the state school security director every three years.
- The state school security director may offer safety-plan suggestions and training/resources.
3) State school security director duties and powers (Section 3)
- The director is responsible for leadership and support for safety and security in public and nonpublic schools.
- Duties include collecting safety plans, recommending minimum standards, conducting security assessments, identifying deficiencies, and advising boards on remediation.
- The director will establish a model safety plan and tornado preparedness standards (including at least two tornado drills per year) and oversee behavioral/mental health training with a focus on suicide awareness and prevention.
- The director will facilitate resources and training for staff, students, and parents regarding safety, cyberbullying, and digital citizenship.
- Responsibilities align with the School Safety and Security Reporting System Act.
4) Related governance and education provisions (Sections 3–4)
- Revisions touching on coordination with the State Fire Marshal and transportation-related provisions for school buses.
- The bill includes provisions to harmonize existing statutes and repeal original sections as necessary.
- The commissioner of education is empowered to organize institutes/conferences related to educator effectiveness and safety training.
Potential Impact
Timeline/Process
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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