Pennsylvania Act 44 school safety requirements obligate every school entity in the commonwealth to appoint a school administrator as a safety and security coordinator, complete a standardized three-part safety assessment on the committee’s schedule, provide three hours of annual safety training to every employee, participate in the Safe2Say Something anonymous reporting program, and follow layered training and authority rules for any school police officers, resource officers, or security guards. The framework was created by Act 44 of 2018 and significantly expanded by Act 55 of 2022, which replaced the original once-every-five-years training rule with an annual requirement.1Justia Law. 2022 Pennsylvania Act 55
Which Schools Have to Comply
Act 44 applies to every “school entity” in Pennsylvania. That covers school districts, intermediate units, area vocational-technical schools, charter schools (including cyber charters), and private residential rehabilitative institutions.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. Act 44 of 2018 Letter to School Entities The requirements are the same regardless of enrollment size. Nonpublic schools are not school entities under the coordinator and assessment rules, but they do interact with parts of the framework, particularly the school police officer provisions.
Appointing a Safety and Security Coordinator
Section 1309-B of the Public School Code requires each school entity’s chief administrator to appoint a school administrator as the School Safety and Security Coordinator. This is not a discretionary role, and vacancies must be filled within 30 days.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Section 1309-B The person filling the role must be an administrator, not any employee the entity chooses.
The coordinator oversees any school police officers, school resource officers, and school security guards employed by the entity. They review the entity’s safety policies for compliance with state and federal law, coordinate training, and serve as the liaison to the School Safety and Security Committee, the Department of Education, and law enforcement. They must schedule safety and security meetings with school and building leadership at least quarterly.
By June 30 each year, the coordinator must deliver an annual report to the board of directors in executive session, detailing the entity’s safety practices and identifying areas for improvement. That same report must also be submitted to the committee.3Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Section 1309-B
Completing the Safety Assessment
Section 1303-B directs the School Safety and Security Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) to establish standardized assessment criteria, which the committee reviews and may revise at least every three years.4Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Chapter 13B School Safety and Security Every school entity must complete an assessment that follows those criteria and includes three distinct components.
The physical assessment is conducted during months when school is in session and evaluates the entity’s buildings and surrounding property. It includes a review of existing safety plans, crisis response plans, and crime prevention practices, including environmental design. Evaluators must also hold discussions with local law enforcement agencies responsible for protecting the school and review any cooperative agreements with those agencies. Conducting it during operations is what surfaces the real vulnerabilities, such as propped-open doors, unmonitored entry points, and supervision blind spots that a paper review will miss.p>
The policy and training assessment examines student safety policies, the student code of conduct, communications practices, technology in use, and current training. It must produce recommendations for effective training and security practices.
The student assistance and behavioral health assessment analyzes school climate, including the availability of student assistance programs and behavioral health professionals, and incorporates recommendations from behavioral and physical health professionals.5Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Section 1303-B
Schools that had completed a qualifying assessment within the past three years before the law’s initial deadline could submit that existing report rather than starting over.2Pennsylvania Department of Education. Act 44 of 2018 Letter to School Entities
Providing Three Hours of Annual Staff Training
Act 55 of 2022 rewrote the training rule. Under the current version of Section 1310-B, every school employee must complete three hours of safety training each year, split into two categories.1Justia Law. 2022 Pennsylvania Act 55
Two hours annually cover one or more of the following topics, chosen based on the entity’s needs: situational awareness, trauma-informed approaches, behavioral health awareness, suicide and bullying awareness, and substance use awareness. This portion may be delivered online or through distance learning.
One hour annually covers emergency training drills (fire, natural disaster, active shooter, hostage situation, bomb threat) and recognizing student behavior that may signal a safety threat. This portion must be conducted in person. Online-only programs that claim to satisfy the full three hours do not meet the standard.
Training must comply with the minimum standards adopted by the committee, and employees who hold professional educator certifications receive continuing education credit for qualifying programs.6Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Pennsylvania K-12 School Safety and Security Training Standards
Participating in Safe2Say Something
Section 1303-D established the Safe2Say Something program within the Office of Attorney General. Tips are submitted online or by calling 1-844-SAF2SAY, and the system has been operational since January 14, 2019.7Safe2Say Something. Safe2Say Something Home
Anonymous tipsters are legally protected: the system must keep an anonymous person’s identity unknown to everyone, including law enforcement and Office of Attorney General staff. Only if the tipster voluntarily identifies themselves and consents can their information be shared with law enforcement and school officials.8Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 24 PS 13-1303-D – Safe2Say Program
When a tip suggests an immediate threat, the program promptly notifies the appropriate law enforcement agency through 911 centers and the Pennsylvania State Police. For other reports, it forwards information to the appropriate law enforcement agency, school official, or organization. Each school entity has its own obligation here: it must develop procedures for assessing and responding to reports it receives from the program. A tip that sits unreviewed defeats the point of a real-time reporting system.
Rules for School Police, Resource Officers, and Security Guards
Act 44 creates three distinct roles for security personnel, each with its own training path and scope of authority.
School Police Officers
School police officers are employees of the school entity or nonpublic school. They must complete basic training through the Municipal Police Officers’ Education and Training Commission or have graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy with a good-standing separation. They take an oath of office, wear a visible badge marked “School Police” with the entity’s name, and are compensated by the entity.9Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Chapter 13C School Police Officers
School Resource Officers
School resource officers combine a law enforcement presence with an educational role. Their authorized duties include helping schools identify environmental changes that reduce crime, developing school crime policy, educating students in crime prevention, training students in conflict resolution and restorative justice, and addressing gang and drug activity in and around schools. Before starting, an SRO must complete the Basic School Resource Officer Course from the National Association of School Resource Officers or an equivalent commission-approved course. SROs do not have to be employees of the school district; districts can enter intergovernmental agreements with municipalities and counties to share the cost.10Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code 24 PS 13-1313-C – School Resource Officers
School Security Guards
Security guards handle routine duties like campus supervision, monitoring visitors, assisting with disruptive students, and coordinating with law enforcement. They must complete commission-approved training before beginning work. A school may employ armed security guards if the individual holds a license under the Uniform Firearms Act, is certified under the Lethal Weapons Training Act, has completed the required instructional training, and has satisfied background check requirements. Active law enforcement officers and qualifying retired officers are exempt from certain firearms training requirements.11Pennsylvania General Assembly. Public School Code of 1949 – Section 1314-C School Security Guards
Grant Funding Tied to Compliance
The School Safety and Security Grant Program administered by the committee through PCCD has distributed over $600 million since 2018, with at least $90 million allocated annually for mental health services in the years after the COVID-19 pandemic.12Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. A Review of Act 44 School Safety Initiatives Report Section 1306-B(j) authorizes grants for safety assessments, security technology (surveillance equipment, metal detectors, electronic locksets, emergency communications, automated external defibrillators, and specialty trained canines), counseling and mental health services, violence prevention programs, staff and Student Assistance Program training, restorative justice and diversion programs, emergency preparedness planning, and visitor and student identification systems.
Over half of recent grant applications have focused on mental health, reflecting where schools are finding their largest unmet need.12Pennsylvania Legislative Budget and Finance Committee. A Review of Act 44 School Safety Initiatives Report Applications run through PCCD’s Egrants system, which requires the agency and at least two individuals to be registered with appropriate user roles before starting.13Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. Getting Started in Egrants Schools that have not completed their required assessment are at a practical disadvantage, because the assessment is what documents the specific needs a grant is supposed to address.
FERPA and Sharing Information in a Safety Emergency
Administrators sometimes hesitate to share student information during a safety incident out of concern about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA has a clear emergency exception. Under 34 CFR § 99.36, a school may disclose personally identifiable information from education records without consent when the disclosure is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or others. The school must determine there is an articulable and significant threat, and as long as it had a rational basis for that determination at the time, the U.S. Department of Education will not second-guess it.14eCFR. 34 CFR 99.36 – Disclosure in Health and Safety Emergencies
The exception applies during the period of the emergency and does not authorize a blanket release. Disclosures must be related to an actual, impending, or imminent emergency.15Protecting Student Privacy. When Is It Permissible to Utilize FERPA’s Health or Safety Emergency Exception for Disclosures Separately, records created by a school’s law enforcement unit for law enforcement purposes are not education records under FERPA at all and can be shared subject to school policy and state law. Schools should keep law enforcement unit records separate from education records to avoid confusion.16Protecting Student Privacy. What Is a Law Enforcement Unit Record
What Non-Compliance Costs
Act 44 does not spell out specific fines or penalties for a school entity that fails to appoint a coordinator, complete assessments, or meet training requirements. The exposure is civil liability. If a student is harmed and the school failed to implement state-mandated safety protocols, courts evaluate whether it met the standard of care expected of a reasonable administrator with the same training and experience. Inadequate policies, insufficient training, and poor planning all support negligence claims, and a school that cannot show Act 44 compliance has a much harder time arguing it acted reasonably.
Districts can also face federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 when a pattern of indifference to known safety risks rises to a constitutional violation. Federal courts have recognized a “state-created danger” theory under which schools can be held liable if their actions or inaction exposed students to dangers they otherwise would not have faced. Establishing that kind of claim requires showing officials with authority to act had actual notice of the danger and remained deliberately indifferent. Compliance with Act 44 does not guarantee immunity, but documented compliance with the coordinator, assessment, training, and reporting requirements creates a strong defense record.