SF 3996 Minnesota Senate · 2025-2026 Regular Session

School safety policies development requirement, School Safety Advisory Council establishment, and Minnesota School Safety Center appropriation

Minnesota bill SF 3996 requires all public K-12 schools and charter schools to develop evidence-based school safety plans by May 2028. The Minnesota School Safety Center will create a model plan based on research showing effectiveness, review local plans for compliance, and notify schools if their plans don't meet standards. Schools that fail to adopt approved plans must inform parents by August 2028 about the lack of a safety plan. The bill also mandates the center to employ at least two mental health professionals and post annual reports on school safety plan adoption. This law directly affects Minnesota's school districts, requiring concrete changes to safety planning processes.

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 2, 2026 Last action Mar 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 7 edits · Mar 18, 2026

MODERATE

The bill was amended from an 'Introduction' draft to its '1st Engrossment' version, incorporating substantive policy updates that shift the focus from 'school safety plans' to 'school safety policies.' Key changes include renaming the primary statute section, adding specific requirements for crisis management drills (lock-down, fire, and tornado), and establishing a new section for a School Safety Advisory Council with updated member composition. The text also clarifies the relationship between crisis management and safety policies and adjusts the timeline for policy adoption and reporting.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from a general focus on 'school safety plans' to a more specific emphasis on 'school safety policies' and 'crisis management policies,' expanding the required components to include specific drill frequencies and integrating mental health support more explicitly.

REQUIREMENT

The bill title and primary statute section were changed from 'School Safety Plans' to 'School Safety Policies,' and the text now explicitly requires the adoption of a 'crisis management policy' alongside the safety policy.

New specific requirements were added mandating at least five school lock-down drills, five fire drills, and one tornado drill as part of the crisis management policy.

A new requirement was added for school boards to notify parents, students, and staff by October 15 regarding the status and approval of their school safety policy.

DEFINITION

A new definition for 'Evidence-based' was added, referencing section 121A.038 to standardize how safety measures are evaluated.

TIMELINE

Deadlines were updated and clarified, including a requirement to post the model policy by September 1, 2026, and a new deadline of October 30 for adopting a policy if one was not previously approved.

ENFORCEMENT

The School Safety Advisory Council composition was modified to include a school resource officer and adjust the number of mental health professionals and other members.

FISCAL

Funding language was updated to specify that appropriations go to the commissioner of public safety rather than directly to the School Safety Center, and the purpose of funds was updated to reflect the new policy-focused language.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 18, 2026

Upper · Passed

Comm report: To pass as amended and re-refer to Judiciary and Public Safety

upper

Mar 9, 2026

Committee

Withdrawn and re-referred to Education Finance

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to Education Policy

upper

Mar 2, 2026

Introduced

Introduction and first reading

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors