SCHOOL FIRE SAFETY
In 2002, the Division of State Fire Marshal assumed responsibility for developing public school fire safety standards and ensuring the inspection of public schools. An annual report on the fire safety health of public schools has been produced each fall and made available for review by citizens, parents, elected officials and those interested in the fire safe environment of public and charter schools. It should be noted that by law all Charter schools are public schools.
The State Fire Marshal’s Bureau of Fire Prevention has worked along side school districts, the Department of Education, and Florida’s fire service professionals to develop Florida Administrative Code Rule Chapter 69A-58 to prescribe the procedures for conducting inspections and the fire safety standards applicable to public schools. Florida specific requirements prescribing the use of “Seclusion Time Out Rooms” and the annual reporting requirements are also included. Florida’s children have the right to a safe place to learn, teachers need a safe place to teach, and parents need to be confident that their child’s classroom is not a fire safety hazard.
Local fire officials and public school districts must employ or contract with an individual certified as a firesafety
inspector in compliance with Section
633.081, Florida Statutes, in order to
conduct a comprehensive fire safety
inspector of each public school facility
annually. Inspection reports generated from
each fire safety inspection, whether
conducted individually by each agency or
conducted jointly with the school district’s
inspector must be provided on an inspection
report. This report must list all identified
fire safety violations, and must include a
Plan of Corrective Action if violations
cannot be corrected quickly. The Plan of
Correction must be approved by the school
board and it then becomes the official plan
for bringing the school facility into
compliance with the Florida Fire Prevention
Code. If a school board does not adhere to
the approved Plan of Correction, the State
Fire Marshal may assume full enforcement
responsibility for the facility until it is
brought into compliance. The failure to
bring a school facility into compliance
could lead to an order to vacate the
facility issued by the State Fire Marshal
prohibiting the use of the facility until
such corrections have been made.
The State
Fire Marshal has developed a web-based
firesafety inspection reporting system for
receipt of annual fire safety inspection
reports. A User’s Guide is available to
assist community colleges, school districts
and local fire officials with the reporting
system. The State Fire Marshal is currently
accepting firesafety inspection reports that
have been completed for the current fiscal
year (July 1 through June 30). If a
reporting authority elects not to use the
online reporting system, manual reports must include
coding of all firesafety deficiencies using
the violation code list below prior to their
submission to the State Fire Marshal. If
you have technical questions or issues
regarding the school reporting system,
please contact Mr. Clint Collins with the
University of Florida at
clintc@bebr.ufl.edu
or
352.392.0171, extension 218. If you have
questions regarding the requirements of Rule
Chapter 69A-58 or the statutorily required
annual reporting process, you may contact
Mr. Charles Frank with the Division of
State Fire Marshal at
Charles.Frank@MyFloridaCFO.com
or 850.413.3747.
FLORIDA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ONLINE REPORTING SYSTEM
NEW FIRESAFETY INSPECTION REPORTING PROCEDURE
RULE CHAPTER 69A-58, FLORIDA
ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
MASTER VIOLATIONS LIST
(SCHEDULE "A" TO RULE CHAPTER 69A-58
(DFS-K3-1674))
REPORTING SYSTEM USER'S GUIDE
FLORIDA PUBLIC SCHOOLS ANNUAL REPORTS
Florida Fire Safety School Evaluation System
In order to promote the reuse of older public school buildings and reducing the cost for construction of new schools, the State Fire Marshal developed the Florida Fire Safety Evaluation System. This quantitative performance-based system recognizes the built-in fire protection features of each individual building and generates a numerical value to determine its equivalency to newer code requirements. The use of this system may provide cost savings to school districts when evaluating the feasibility of modifying buildings initially occupied prior to January 1, 1985. School districts should consult with the local fire official prior to initiating construction based on the findings of the Fire Safety Evaluation System.
FLORIDA
FIRESAFETY SCHOOL EVALUATION FORM
(DFS-K3-1546)