MSD Act
The MSD Act would (1) require local educational agencies (LEAs) to develop and implement emergency response procedures for all students, staff, and faculty and to notify parents/guardians promptly about threats or emergencies, as a condition of receiving federal funds; and (2) direct the Department of Homeland Security, via the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), to convene a rulemaking advisory committee to study and develop standards for installing or modifying interior and exterior doors in federally funded elementary and secondary schools. The act sets up a process for reporting findings to Congress, issuing a final rule, and provides funding to support the door-related requirements through the State Homeland Security Grant Program. In short, the bill aims to improve school safety through both emergency planning/communication and enhanced physical security of school doors, with federal funding tied to compliance and later rulemaking. If enacted, LEAs would need to align their safety plans with specified threat-response and parental notification requirements and schools would move toward reinforced door standards following a DHS-led rulemaking process, funded by a dedicated federal grant.
Key Points
- 1Emergency response and parental notification requirements for LEAs: As a condition of federal funding, LEAs must develop and implement emergency response procedures for all students, faculty, and staff and ensure timely parental/guardian notification of threats and emergencies on or around school grounds, transportation, or activities.
- 2Covered threats and emergencies: The procedures cover a broad set of threats, including weapons or active shooter situations, bomb threats, homicide, sex offenses involving students or staff, trespassing, fires, natural weather events, natural disasters, and manmade exposure to harmful substances, plus other locally determined threats.
- 3Emergency planning details: Procedures must be developed with public safety input, use common alarm responses for different emergencies, and specify the primary emergency response agency and the school contacts responsible for contacting that agency.
- 4Door security rulemaking: DHS (CISA) must convene a rulemaking advisory committee within 90 days to study installation or modification of interior and exterior doors in federally funded schools, with a diverse membership (law enforcement, safety personnel, educators, safety advocates, ballistic shielding/architecture experts, etc.).
- 5Timeline and funding for door standards: The committee’s findings go to Congress within one year; a final rule requiring reinforced doors must be issued within six months after that report. The program is funded through the Homeland Security Grant Program with an additional $100 million authorized for the year the final rule is issued and for the following nine fiscal years, specifically for implementing this section.