PA Act 44 of 2025: Understanding School Notification Mandates for Weapon Incident Disclosures
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro recently signed into law Act 44 of 2025, which is a new section of the school code, 13-1303.2-A. This new law is entitled, “Parental and Employee Notification of Weapon Incidents” and takes effect on January 6, 2026. The law provides that a school entity (which includes technical schools and intermediate units) must notify parents, guardians, and school employees of an incident involving the possession of a weapon on any school property (which includes a location where a school-sponsored activity is conducted) that constitutes a violation of section 1317.2 of the school code (weapons offenses), 18 Pa.C.S. § 912 (crimes relating to possession of a weapon on school property), or locally established policies relating to weapons. Under the law, unless the circumstances of the incident necessitate otherwise, notification to parents, guardians and employees must be made within 24 hours of the incident, and requiring a method of communication likely to reach them.
· If an incident involving the possession of a weapon occurs at a school building, the required notification can be limited to parents or guardians of students enrolled in or attending the building and school employes assigned to the school building where the incident occurred.
· If the school building at which the incident occurred shares a campus with other school buildings, the required notification must be made to parents and guardians of students enrolled in or attending, or school employes assigned to, any building situated on the shared campus.
· If an incident involving the possession of a weapon occurs at a school-sponsored activity or on a public conveyance providing transportation to or from a school or school-sponsored activity, the required notification must reach the appropriate population of parents, guardians, and school employees.
Notification is not required if the incident is not directly related to the school-sponsored activity, or the students or staff involved in the activity.
The required notification cannot contain personally identifiable information about a student and must comply with FERPA except that a school employee to whom a student in possession of a weapon is assigned shall be deemed to be a school official with a legitimate educational interest in the student, and is therefore entitled to know the student's identity and the portion of the student's records relating to the incident.
The law does not override the district’s responsibility to report incidents to local law enforcement prior to providing parents, guardians, and school employees with the required notification or in an emergency, does not supersede or limit the school’s responsibility to follow the procedure in its disaster response and emergency preparedness plan, and does not supersede or preempt any provision of a collective bargaining agreement.
The term “weapon” is not specifically defined in Act 44 but it references provisions of other laws that define weapons to include, but not be limited to, “any knife, cutting instrument, cutting tool, nun-chuck stick, firearm, shotgun, rifle and any other tool, instrument or implement capable of inflicting serious bodily injury.”
The law does not provide details concerning notification. The notification will need to be modified depending on who is the target audience and what exactly took place. We would suggest the following as a template:
Dear Parent/Guardian/employee:
In accordance with Act 44 of 2025, section 1303.2-A of the school code, we are required to notify parents/guardians/employees within 24 hours when an incident involving possession of a weapon occurs on school property, at a school-sponsored event, or while using school transportation.
On [date], an incident occurred at [school name] involving a [fill in general description of what occurred, such as student in possession of a weapon].
The situation was promptly addressed by school administration and law enforcement, if appropriate, and appropriate disciplinary measures are being taken in line with district policy and state law, if appropriate.
Please be assured that the safety of our students and staff remains our highest priority. Additional steps have been taken to ensure the continued security of our school community, if appropriate.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact [name] at [phone/email].
Thank you for your attention to this matter and for your continued partnership in maintaining a safe learning environment.
Sincerely,
[administrator’s name] [title] [school/district name]
Finally, the law does not specify that a policy is needed. However, every school entity should have a policy concerning possession of a weapon. It is our advice that language be added to that policy stating that the school entity will comply with the new section 1303.2-A.
Clients who have questions regarding issues discussed in this article, or any education law matter, should feel free to call us at 215-345-9111.