Committee hears testimony on school safety package; witnesses raise mental-health, drill and reporting concerns

The House Committee on Education and Workforce heard testimony on five bills in a school-safety package and took a substitute that makes one measure subject to appropriation.

Sponsors described proposals requiring routine review of local school safety plans, expanded lockdown drills, creation of designated safety and mental-health staff at each intermediate school district (ISD), and mandated reporting of tips from the "Okay to Say" tip line to schools and local law enforcement. Committee members and witnesses pressed sponsors on funding, scope and potential harms from additional drills or broad training requirements.

Rep. Tom Schmaltz, sponsor of House Bill 4,222, said the bill would require schools to review safety plans every three years, establish a school crisis team and allow use of temporary locking devices. "We do owe it to every student, teacher and parent to do everything in our power to make schools a place of safety and learning," Rep. Schmaltz said, adding the bill "leaves the decision to the local schools — they'll know best who should be on their school crisis team."

Rep. Schmaltz told the committee a crisis team would typically include a principal, a vice principal, a school resource officer if present, and other appropriate school personnel. Committee members asked about flexibility when small schools lack vice principals; Schmaltz said the bill provides flexibility for local assignment.

Co-sponsors asked whether the bill's requirement that safety plans include use and installation guidelines for temporary locking systems is necessary; Schmaltz said the provision aims to ensure teams actually use existing devices and that team members know how to operate them.

Rep. Linting (vice chair) presented House Bill 42‑26, which would increase the number of required lockdown drills from three to four annually by reducing one required fire drill (the current statutory total cited in testimony was 10 drills annually: five fire drills, three lockdown drills, and two tornado drills). The bill would require one lockdown drill to occur during passing time; sponsors said they would consider language for elementary schools where passing time is less applicable. Rep. Linting said the change "is a step towards keeping students safer and more prepared." Committee members raised concerns that an unannounced drill during passing time could cause panic; sponsors said they would consider flexibility and advance notice options.

Rep. Glanville, sponsor of House Bill 42‑28, urged the committee to incorporate work from prior stakeholder processes and a bipartisan School Safety Task Force. She warned against policies that could overemphasize policing in schools and said safe schools require attention to social supports, mental-health services and basic needs such as housing and food security. "A safe school is not a school where a kid needs to be rescued," Rep. Glanville said. "It is a school that does not experience crisis in the first place."

Rep. Regas, sponsor of House Bill 4,258, said the bill would mandate that tips reported to the "Okay to Say" tip line be forwarded to school districts and local law enforcement; she said a substitute had been requested with Michigan State Police to ensure the agency includes the school district location before sending out a tip. Regas said the proposal was prompted by a local suicide investigation in which she said multiple reports did not result in action; she described the change as a measure to create "consistency and uniformity across the board."

Rep. Fairbairn, sponsor of House Bill 4,227, described a plan to assign an emergency and safety manager and a mental-health coordinator in each intermediate school district as a statewide coordination mechanism. He told the committee he supported a substitute subjecting the requirement to appropriation so implementation depends on available funding. Fairbairn said the change followed recommendations from a bipartisan task force on school safety and mental health.

Witnesses included Rep. Kelly Breen (speaking in a personal capacity and as a former task-force participant) and representatives of school- and mental-health organizations who registered support or neutrality. Rep. Breen urged the committee to preserve stakeholder work completed after the Oxford shooting, to avoid one-size-fits-all requirements and to protect students from retraumatization by frequent active-shooter drills. "The bills do not reflect the flexibility that is needed for districts to make sure that children are not retraumatized again," Breen said.

Committee members repeatedly asked about funding and implementation: whether ISDs could recruit qualified mental-health staff, whether adding district-level positions could create staffing shortages locally, and whether required training would reduce instructional time. Sponsors said they had requested the appropriation contingency to allow budget conversations with appropriations leaders over the legislative break.

The committee adopted an H1 substitute to House Bill 42‑27 that makes implementation subject to appropriations; the clerk called the roll and the motion prevailed per the clerk's summary.

What the bills would do (as described in testimony)

- HB 4,222 (Schmaltz): Require review of school safety plans at least every three years, establish a school crisis team, and require guidance on temporary locking devices. - HB 42‑26 (Linting): Adjust the fire-prevention code to add one lockdown drill per year (four total) and require one lockdown drill during passing time where applicable. - HB 42‑28 (Glanville): Part of the school-safety package; sponsor urged fuller incorporation of prior stakeholder work and cautioned against overreliance on security measures without mental-health supports. - HB 4,258 (Regas): Mandate reporting of "Okay to Say" tips to school districts and local law enforcement; substitute clarifies Michigan State Police must include district location before forwarding tips. - HB 4,227 (Fairbairn): Require each ISD to designate an emergency and safety manager and a mental-health coordinator; implementation contingent on appropriation per adopted substitute.

Provenance and next steps

Testimony and questioning are in the hearing record; several bills remain under committee consideration and sponsors said they will work with stakeholders and appropriations over the legislative break. The committee did not enact final statutory changes in the hearing; most items heard will require additional drafting, fiscal analysis and votes before becoming law.