NRS 388.1455 - Establishment of SafeVoice Program; requirements of Program; support center for initial reports; training regarding Program and support center; duties of Director; reports, policies and regulations. [Effective January 1, 2020.]

NV Rev Stat § 388.1455 (2019) (N/A)
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1. The Director shall establish the SafeVoice Program within the Office for a Safe and Respectful Learning Environment. The Program must enable any person to report to the Program any dangerous, violent or unlawful activity which is being conducted, or is threatened to be conducted, on school property, at an activity sponsored by a public school, on a school bus of a public school or by a pupil enrolled at a public school. Any information relating to any such dangerous, violent or unlawful activity, or threat thereof, received by the Program is confidential and, except as otherwise authorized pursuant to subsection 2 and NRS 388.1458, must not be disclosed to any person.

2. The SafeVoice Program must include, without limitation, methods and procedures to ensure that:

(a) Information reported to the Program is promptly forwarded to the appropriate public safety agencies, the Department and other appropriate state agencies, school administrators and other school employees, including, without limitation, the teams appointed pursuant to NRS 388.14553;

(b) The identity of a person who reports information to the Program may remain anonymous, unless the policies established and regulations adopted pursuant to subsection 6 require the identity of such a person to be disclosed; and

(c) The appropriate public safety agencies may access personally identifiable information concerning a pupil:

(1) To take the appropriate action in response to an activity or threat reported pursuant to this section;

(2) Twenty-four hours a day; and

(3) Subject to the confidentiality required pursuant to this section.

3. On behalf of the SafeVoice Program, the Director or his or her designee shall establish and operate a support center that meets the requirements of NRS 388.14557, which includes, without limitation, a hotline, Internet website, mobile telephone application and text messaging application or enter into an agreement with an organization that the Director determines is appropriately qualified and experienced, pursuant to which the organization will establish and operate such a support center, which includes, without limitation, a hotline, Internet website, mobile telephone application and text messaging application. The support center shall receive initial reports made to the Program through the hotline, Internet website, mobile telephone application and text messaging application and forward the information contained in the reports in the manner required by subsection 2.

4. The Director shall provide training regarding:

(a) The Program to employees and volunteers of each public safety agency, public safety answering point, board of trustees of a school district, governing body of a charter school and any other entity whose employees and volunteers the Director determines should receive training regarding the Program.

(b) Properly responding to a report received from the support center, including, without limitation, the manner in which to respond to reports of different types of dangerous, violent and unlawful activity and threats of such activity, to each member of a team appointed pursuant to NRS 388.14553.

(c) The procedure for making a report to the support center using the hotline, Internet website, mobile telephone application and text messaging application and collaborating to prevent dangerous, violent and unlawful activity directed at teachers and other members of the staff of a school, pupils, family members of pupils and other persons.

5. The Director shall:

(a) Post information concerning the SafeVoice Program on an Internet website maintained by the Director;

(b) Provide to each public school educational materials regarding the SafeVoice Program, including, without limitation, information about the telephone number, address of the Internet website, mobile telephone application, text messaging application and any other methods by which a report may be made; and

(c) On or before July 1 of each year, submit to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal to the Legislative Committee on Education a report containing a summary of the information reported to the Director pursuant to NRS 388.14557 during the immediately preceding 12 months and any other information that the Director determines would assist the Committee to evaluate the SafeVoice Program.

6. The Department shall establish policies and adopt regulations pursuant to subsection 2 relating to the disclosure of the identity of a person who reports information to the Program. The regulations must include, without limitation, the disclosure of the identity of a person who reported information to the Program:

(a) To ensure the safety and well-being of the person who reported information to the Program;

(b) To comply with the provisions of NRS 388.1351; or

(c) If the person knowingly reported false information to the Program.

7. As used in this section:

(a) “Public safety agency” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 239B.020.

(b) “Public safety answering point” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 707.500.

(Added to NRS by 2015, 3071; A 2017, 4012; 2019, 3236, 3968, effective January 1, 2020)