BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama education officials have begun implementing a comprehensive school safety law that sets statewide standards for how public schools prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The School Security Act, passed in 2024, requires, among other actions, every public school to undergo a safety evaluation at least once every five years using a rubric developed by the Alabama Board of Education and law enforcement partners.
The law also requires updated campus maps for emergency responders and expands the responsibilities of district safety coordinators.
State education officials say the law brings consistency to work schools have already been doing at a time when schools continue to strengthen their preparedness after more than a decade of mass shootings at schools.
At a recent board work session in Montgomery, Assistant State Superintendent Autumm Jeter walked state board members through the major requirements of the law and the work her team has started.
She said most districts know what’s required, and that school inspections required under the law, which became effective in October 2024, are underway. “Forty-five school inspections were completed between November and May,” Jeter said.
So far this school year, the team has completed 59 inspections – out of 235 schools scheduled for review as part of the state’s compliance monitoring cycle. There are approximately 1,350 schools statewide.
“So we have a big job,” she said.
Jeter said the rubric inspectors use evaluates items such as security cameras, alarm systems, locks on interior and exterior doors, intercom and communication equipment, panic buttons, emergency escapes and other physical safety measures across buildings, grounds and school buses.
Alabama Daily News reviewed the rubric template Jeter referenced and found inspectors check for 38 separate items of compliance.
Facilities receive one of three ratings for each of those items.
“If a school district receives green… they’re doing well,” Jeter said. “Yellow, there may be minor needs… if there’s red, it’s a serious need.”
The inspectors are required to give local school boards the completed rubric and recommendations to improve school security.
Another major component of the law is a statewide school mapping program, overseen by ALEA. That program requires detailed digital maps of every school, including interior floor plans, external door numbers, utility locations, trauma kits, parking areas and athletic fields.
The maps must work with software used by emergency responders, and districts cannot be required to purchase additional software to access them.
The law also formalizes the role of district safety coordinators. Each local board must designate a coordinator with direct access to the superintendent.
Within a year of being appointed, those coordinators must complete training in emergency operations plans, lockdown procedures, evacuation and reunification, weather emergencies, behavioral threat assessment and facility security.
They must also oversee required drills and hold annual school-level safety meetings involving law enforcement, fire officials, emergency management officials and the school mental health coordinator.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey noted that this is the first time Alabama has had a dedicated school safety section within the department. He also said that lawmakers allocated $15 million for school safety in this year’s Education Trust Fund supplemental appropriation.
A memo sent to superintendents Monday, recommended officials using the funding for items ranging from fire extinguishers to bullet resistant film. Ten million dollars of the funding was distributed directly to school districts based on enrollment. That funding comes out to about $9 per student, Mackey said.
Mackey said the department is holding back a portion of the funds to address the most urgent issues identified through inspections.
Districts may also use money from their Advancement and Technology Fund allocation for school safety. The ALSDE distributed $808 million from that fund in May which districts can use for safety improvements or other allowable purposes.
