(a) At least once annually, each local school administrative unit shall require each school under its control to hold a full school-wide tabletop exercise and drill based on the procedures documented in its School Risk Management Plan (SRMP). The drill shall include a practice school lockdown due to an intruder on school grounds. Each school is encouraged to hold a tabletop exercise and drill for multiple hazards included in its SRMP. Schools are strongly encouraged to include local law enforcement agencies and emergency management agencies in their tabletop exercises and drills. The purpose of the tabletop exercises and drills shall be to permit participants to (i) discuss simulated emergency situations in a low-stress environment, (ii) clarify their roles and responsibilities and the overall logistics of dealing with an emergency, and (iii) identify areas in which the SRMP needs to be modified.

(b) For the purposes of this section, a tabletop exercise is an exercise involving key personnel conducting simulated scenarios related to emergency planning.

(c) For the purposes of this section, a drill is a school-wide practice exercise in which simulated scenarios related to emergency planning are conducted.

(d) The Department of Public Safety, Division of Emergency Management, and the Center for Safer Schools shall provide guidance and recommendations to local school administrative units on the types of multiple hazards to plan and respond to, including intruders on school grounds.

(d) To Conduct Fire Drills and Inspect for Fire Hazards. -- It shall be the duty of the principal to conduct a fire drill during the first week after the opening of school and thereafter at least one fire drill each school month, in each building in his charge, where children are assembled. Fire drills shall include all pupils and school employees, and the use of various ways of egress to simulate evacuation of said buildings under various conditions, and such other regulations as shall be prescribed for fire safety by the Commissioner of Insurance, the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education. A copy of such regulations shall be kept posted on the bulletin board in each building.

Guide addresses planning and implementing multi-hazard practice drills and exercises.