MississippiSchool Safety Standards

School Safety Legislation & Resources

Mississippi Proposes Alyssa’s Law: SB2534

In January 2025, Mississippi Senator Robin Robinson introduced SB2534, also known as Alyssa’s Law, requiring “school districts to implement a panic alert system making use of wearable panic alert devices.”

The legislation, if enacted, would require that “each school district shall implement at each school facility a panic alert system making use of wearable panic alert devices, provided to each staff member, allowing for immediate contact with local emergency response agencies by integrating with local public safety answering point infrastructure to transmit 911 calls and mobile activations.  Such panic alert system must be capable of initiating a campus-wide lockdown notification.”

Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019

Mississippi school alert systems are designed to create safe and secure learning environments for the state’s young people. According to the Mississippi School Safety Manual, school leaders across the state must prepare for the possibility of an active shooter on campus, so students, staff, and emergency personnel fully understand their roles.

A minimum of two active shooter drills are mandated to take place within the first 60 days of each semester. The rule was established as part of the Mississippi School Safety Act of 2019. Three different drills are acceptable as part of Mississippi school safety solutions:

• Lockdown/Intruder Shelter-in-Place Drill: classes shelter in place while administrative personnel and school resource officers walk the halls to secure classroom and other building doors.
• Tabletop Activity: key personnel informally discuss simulated scenarios to assess plans, policies, and procedures.
• FullScale Operational Based Response Exercise: this is a multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional activity involving the deployment of resources in a coordinated response as if a real incident has occurred.

As part of the plan, all schools must have two family reunification points and maps to those locations.

Division of School Safety

The Mississippi Department of Education’s Division of School Safety is tasked with helping schools with physical security, emergency operation, and school discipline. The division provides training and technical assistance for Mississippi school safety solutions:

• School resource officer/school safety officer training.
• Civilian response to active shooter events.
• Review and assist with school district emergency planning.
• School safety technical assistance visits.

Office of Safe and Orderly Schools

The State of Mississippi created The Office of Safe and Orderly Schools as part of the Department of Education to provide a series of guidelines for those in positions of responsibility for the health and safety of students and staff:

• At school
• On school grounds
• On their way to or from school
• Involved in school-sponsored activities

The divisions that comprise the Office of Safe and Orderly Schools stress the importance of community-wide partnerships in the development of procedures and policies that effectively support the operation and maintenance of a healthy, safe, orderly, and disciplined school environment.

The office compiled and distributed the Mississippi School Safety Manual which describes the roles and responsibilities of administrators, teachers, students, and school resource officers. It also presents procedures for site assessments that determine if school facilities are following proper safety protocols, including the use of locks, cameras, and alarms to respond to a potentially violent situation.

Mississippi School Guardian Program and School Safety Alliance

As the incidents of school shootings have increased nationally, Mississippi has been researching ways to make its schools safer places for students, teachers, and staff members.

Gov. Tate Reeves has proposed creating the Mississippi School Guardian Program. It would send school employees through training with the Department of Public Safety. Those employees would be certified to carry guns and use them during an active shooter situation.

In addition, the Department of Education has partnered with the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security, to establish the School Safety Alliance in 2022.

The group’s mission is to study student mental health issues and evaluate current state laws and policies to ensure students have safe learning environments. The alliance includes representatives from the Department of Education, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Homeland Security, the State Attorney General’s office, and school employees.

CENTEGIX Safety Report 2026 School Safety Trends:
Clarity in Crisis - Replacing Uncertainty with Coordinated Response

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