Colorado Interagency Working Group on School Safety

C.R.S. tit. 24, art. 25
in effect

C.R.S. § 24-25-101 Legislative declaration

24-25-101. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that: (a) Ensuring the safety of students, teachers, and other employees while at school is a paramount concern for the citizens of Colorado; (b) Improving the effective administration of school safety programs and funding is critical to providing safe schools; and (c) Maintaining school safety through the most cost-effective use of limited state resources is in the interest of the people of the state of Colorado. (2) Therefore, the general assembly declares that a working group comprised of state and local agency officials must be formed to increase coordination of school safety programs across state government and annually report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate on their activities.

C.R.S. § 24-25-102 Colorado interagency working group on school safety - creation - membership - operation - immunity

24-25-102. Colorado interagency working group on school safety - creation - membership - operation - immunity. (1) There is created in the department of public safety the Colorado interagency working group on school safety, referred to in this article 25 as the "working group". The working group has the powers and duties specified in this article 25. (2) The working group consists of fourteen members, as follows: (a) The executive director of the department of public safety, or his or her designee, who shall serve as the chair of the working group; (b) The commissioner of education, or his or her designee, who shall serve as the vice-chair of the working group; (c) The executive director of the department of public health and environment, or his or her designee; (d) The executive director of the department of human services, or his or her designee; (e) The attorney general, or his or her designee; (f) The director of the school safety resource center; (g) The director of the division of fire prevention and control or his or her designee; (h) The state architect or his or her designee; (i) A school district superintendent who serves an urban or suburban school district, appointed by an organization that represents school executives; (j) A school district superintendent who serves a rural school district, appointed by an organization that represents school executives; (k) A chief of police appointed by an organization that represents Colorado chiefs of police; (l) A county sheriff appointed by an organization that represents Colorado county sheriffs; and (m) Two members who are either a student or parent who attended a school or had a child attend a school at the time a school shooting occurred at the school, one appointed by the majority leader of the senate and one appointed by the minority leader of the senate. (3) The members of the working group serve without compensation but the members appointed by the governor may be reimbursed for any actual and necessary travel expenses incurred in the performance of their duties pursuant to this article 25. (4) The working group shall meet at least once per quarter to review information necessary for making recommendations. (5) The working group may contract with a consultant to optimize the alignment and effectiveness of the school safety efforts in Colorado and identify evidence-based best practices. The general assembly may appropriate money to the working group for a consultant if requested by the working group. (6) Members of the working group, employees, and consultants are immune from suit in any civil action based upon any official act performed in good faith pursuant to this article 25. (7) The department of public safety shall convene the first meeting of the working group no later than December 31, 2022. (8) Repealed.

C.R.S. § 24-25-103 Duties of the working group - mission

24-25-103. Duties of the working group - mission. (1) The mission of the working group is to enhance school safety through the cost-effective use of public resources. The work of the working group will focus on evidence-based best practices. (2) The working group shall: (a) Study and implement recommendations of the state auditor's report regarding school safety released September 2019; (b) Consider program organization and recommend reorganization if necessary; (c) Identify shared metrics to examine program effectiveness; (d) Facilitate interagency coordination and communication; (e) Increase transparency and accessibility of state grants and resources, particularly for school districts without a grant writer, which includes improving outreach and may include developing common grant applications; (f) Facilitate and address data sharing, including allowable data sharing at the local level, when appropriate and allowable under state and federal law; and (g) Address school safety program challenges in a coordinated way. (3) The working group may use available resources, modalities, and nonmembers from interested members of the community to focus on specific subject matters. (4) The school safety resource center serves as the clearinghouse for all materials produced by the working group. (5) The division of criminal justice in the department of public safety, in consultation with the department of education, shall provide resources for data collection, research, analysis, and publication of the working group's findings and reports.

C.R.S. § 24-25-104 Colorado working group on school safety cash fund - created - gifts, grants, and donations

24-25-104. Colorado working group on school safety cash fund - created - gifts, grants, and donations. (1) The department of public safety and the working group are authorized to accept gifts, grants, or donations, including in-kind donations from private or public sources, for the purposes of this article 25. All private and public money received through gifts, grants, or donations by the department of public safety or by the working group must be transmitted to the state treasurer, who shall credit the same to the Colorado working group on school safety cash fund, which fund is created in the state treasury and referred to in this article 25 as the "cash fund". The state treasurer shall invest any money in the cash fund not expended for the purposes of this article 25 as provided in section 24-36-113. All interest and income derived from the investment and deposit of money in the cash fund must be credited to the cash fund. Any unexpended and unencumbered money remaining in the cash fund at the end of any fiscal year remains in the cash fund and shall not be credited or transferred to the general fund or any other fund. (2) The department of public safety is not required to solicit gifts, grants, or donations from any source for the purposes of this article 25.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-24.docxFetched: 10/6/2026