Iowa Senate Bill SSB1099

Iowa 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/4/25
• Refer: 2/4/25

Caption

A bill for an act relating to school safety by requiring the creation of threat assessment teams and authorizing information sharing between certain governmental agencies.(See SF 583.)

Summary

SSB1099 is a school safety bill that creates a framework for sharing information about K-12 students who are experiencing or at risk of emotional disturbance or mental illness, or who may pose a significant threat to the safety of others. It authorizes a broad set of “covered entities” — including public agencies, the judicial branch, criminal and juvenile justice agencies, nonpublic schools, charter schools, innovation zone schools, and contracted service providers — to share records and coordinate services when necessary to support student welfare and school safety. The bill also authorizes school districts and accredited nonpublic schools to establish multidisciplinary threat assessment teams. These teams may include school officials, law enforcement, juvenile court services, mental health professionals, and social services representatives, and may coordinate resources, assess threats, and intervene when a student’s behavior suggests a credible danger of serious bodily injury or death. The bill further allows schools to partner with other schools to create joint teams and provides civil liability immunity for good-faith reporting, investigation, or disclosure related to school safety threats.

Impact

The bill would add new Code section 29D.1 governing school-safety-related information sharing and new Code section 280.36 governing multidisciplinary threat assessment teams, while also amending the charter school statutes in chapters 256E and 256F to make those schools subject to the same requirements as school districts. It would expand the circumstances under which student-related records and information may be shared notwithstanding other confidentiality provisions, including section 22.7, when needed to provide services or protect safety. It would also create a civil immunity provision for certain good-faith reports and investigations tied to credible threats of serious harm on school property.

Sentiment

The bill appears to be framed as a school safety and student support measure, with its language emphasizing coordination, intervention, and access to appropriate services. Even without recorded committee debate or votes in the provided materials, the structure of the bill suggests a generally protective and preventive policy approach, combining mental health response with threat assessment and information sharing. The inclusion of immunity for reporters and investigators also indicates an effort to encourage participation by school and public safety personnel.

Contention

The main likely points of contention are privacy and confidentiality versus safety and intervention. Because the bill authorizes sharing of student records across a wide range of governmental and educational entities, critics could be concerned about erosion of student privacy, especially given the override of contrary law and the reference to section 22.7. Another possible concern is the breadth of the threat standard — students who are “at risk” of emotional disturbance or who pose an “articulable and significant threat” — which may raise questions about discretion, over-identification, and the potential stigmatization of students with mental health needs. Supporters would likely emphasize the bill’s preventive focus, interagency coordination, and liability protections for good-faith action.