The proposed legislation, Senate Bill 25-027, aims to integrate trauma-informed practices into school safety protocols across Colorado. The bill outlines a structured timeline and collaborative approach to achieve this goal:
Establishment of a Work Group: By September 1, 2025, the Office of School Safety is mandated to convene and oversee a work group dedicated to developing best practices for conducting school safety drills using trauma-informed methods.
Development of Recommendations: The work group is tasked with formulating comprehensive recommendations by June 30, 2026. These recommendations will focus on:
Training school personnel in trauma-informed practices for safety drills.
Implementing school safety drills in a manner sensitive to potential trauma.
Effective responses to actual school safety incidents.
Submission of Findings: Upon completion, the recommendations are to be submitted to:
The Office of School Safety.
The House and Senate Education Committees.
The Governor.
The State Board of Education.
The Commissioner of Education.
The Department of Education.
This initiative underscores Colorado's commitment to ensuring that school safety measures are both effective and considerate of students' emotional well-being.
Summary
On or before September 1, 2025, the bill requires the office of
school safety (office) to convene and oversee a work group to develop best practices for the use of trauma-informed practices to conduct school safety drills.
No later than June 30, 2026, the bill requires the work group to
develop recommendations to support schools in training school personnel on the use of trauma-informed practices in conducting school safety drills, how to best conduct school safety drills in a trauma-informed manner, and how to best respond to a school safety incident. The recommendations must be submitted to the office and the house and senate education committees, or their successor committees; the governor; the state board; the commissioner of education; and the department of education.
