Connecticut school safety

School safety mapping laws & grants in Connecticut

Yes, Connecticut has acted. Public Act 26-116 stands up a DESPP grant program funding accurate, walk-through-verified school mapping data, with eligibility criteria and deadlines due to be posted by October 1, 2026.

Connecticut's Public Act 26-116 (signed June 4, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) creates a state grant program through which DESPP may fund accurate, interoperable school mapping data (verified floor plans, true-north orientation, x/y grid, labeled hazards/AEDs/utilities) for first responders. It sets detailed data standards but is a funding program, not a law forcing every school to buy digital mapping.[1]

Why this matters in Connecticut

Why Connecticut schools need this now

Connecticut just opened the door, and the smart districts walk through it first. DESPP will not post its grant criteria and deadlines until October 1, 2026, which gives you a window to be application-ready rather than scrambling once 1,010 schools start competing for the same dollars. A responder reaching one of those campuses in an emergency needs a verified, gridded view, not a binder, and the districts that scan now own that advantage.

The mandate

What Connecticut law requires

Law
Public Act No. 26-116 (originally Senate Bill No. 375), "An Act Concerning School Mapping Data Services"[1]
Statute
Conn. Public Act 26-116, Section 1 (new section, effective July 1, 2026)[1]
Compliance
Effective July 1, 2026 (grants available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, and thereafter). DESPP must develop eligibility criteria, application forms and deadlines and post the program description on its website not later than October 1, 2026. First annual report to the legislature due not later than January 1, 2028. The Act imposes no per-school compliance deadline.[1]

What schools must provide: Establishes (does NOT compel) a state-administered grant program. The Dept. of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) MAY, within available appropriations, give grants to municipalities and municipal police departments for services that produce school mapping data. To qualify, the mapping data must meet 11 specifications, including: compatibility with the software platforms used by local/state/federal public-safety agencies AND the school's security software, with no additional software purchase or fee required to view/access; available in a printable format and, if requested, a digital file format that integrates into interactive mobile platforms; verified for accuracy via a physical walk-through of buildings and grounds; oriented true north; accurate floor plans overlaid on current verified aerial imagery; site-specific labels matching building structure (room labels, hallway names, external door/stairwell numbers, locations of hazards, critical utilities, key boxes, AEDs, trauma kits) and grounds (parking, athletic fields, surrounding roads, neighboring properties); overlaid with gridded x/y coordinates; unable to be modified without corresponding updates in public-safety software; and provided permanently to the board of education and emergency-services agencies at no cost beyond initial production. It is a funding/standards program, not a hard mandate requiring every school to purchase digital mapping. Recipients of the data: local/regional boards of education and the local, state and federal public-safety agencies that serve the specific school.[1]

Funding

Grants that help Connecticut schools pay for it

Districts often combine state and federal programs to fund first-responder mapping, AI threat detection, and emergency communications. We list only currently open or recurring programs; amounts and deadlines change, so confirm each at its official source before applying.

Connecticut state programs

School Mapping Data Grant Program (Public Act 26-116)Formula
Funding Not specified in statute; capped at "available appropriations." No per-grant dollar cap is set in the Act.
Municipalities and municipal police departments may apply, on behalf of one or more schools in the municipality (or the municipality served by the department), for services that produce school mapping data meeting the 11 data specifications in Sec. 1(b).
Deadline: Program is new (effective July 1, 2026). DESPP must publish eligibility criteria, application forms and deadlines on its website not later than October 1, 2026. As of 2026-06-23 the specific application deadlines were not yet published.[1]
School Security Competitive Grant Program (Public Act 13-3)Open
Funding Reimbursement-based; amount varies by round and project. No fixed per-school cap stated on the DEMHS page.
Public and non-public schools, for school security infrastructure costs; competitive, reimbursement-based.
[2]

Federal programs (available nationwide)

COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)Annual
Funding FY26: up to $73,000,000 total available, awarded over a 3-year (36-month) period with at least a 25% local cash match required (waiver possible) and approximately $1,000,000 reserved for microgrants of up to $100,000 for rural, tribal, and low-resourced school districts. Confirm the current per-award cap directly on the official COPS SVPP program page before applying, as the FY26 figure is being finalized.
Coordination with law enforcement; training for school personnel and local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence against others and self; placement/use of metal detectors, locks, lighting and other deterrent measures; acquisition and installation of technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency; other Director-approved security improvements at K-12 schools and on school grounds. (This is the COPS-administered arm of the STOP School Violence Act of 2018, focused on security equipment/technology and training.) (U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office))
Deadline: FY26: Grants.gov SF-424 by Aug 4, 2026 4:59 PM ET; JustGrants by Aug 11, 2026 4:59 PM ET. Annual competitive cycle (typically opens spring/summer each fiscal year).Listing: 16.710[3]
Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence)Rolling
Funding Two tiers, both at Secretary's discretion (subject to appropriations) sized to the incident: Immediate Services (emergency short-term assistance) and Extended Services (longer recovery). No fixed published cap on the official ed.gov page; funding amounts and project periods are established case-by-case to reflect the scope of the incident and recovery needs.
Short-term education-related services to help schools/campuses recover from and respond to a violent or traumatic event and restore the learning environment (e.g., mental health/counseling support, security and safety measures during recovery, substitute staffing, overtime, communication). Qualifying events: school shootings, suicide clusters, terrorism, natural disasters, school bus accidents, student homicides, hate crimes (non-exhaustive). (U.S. Department of Education - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Safe and Supportive Schools)
Recurring program, confirm the current cycle at the sourceListing: 84.184S[4]

See full details on each federal funding program, including eligibility, deadlines, and how each can apply to responder-ready mapping.

How schools comply

From paper plans to a map responders can actually use

Municipalities and police departments apply on a school's behalf, so the smart move is to be application-ready before DESPP posts its criteria. One LiDAR-and-drone scan produces a live 3D digital twin that already satisfies the data specifications, including true-north floor plans, an x/y grid, and labeled hazards, AEDs, and utilities. Static PDFs go stale the moment a building changes, and they cannot be shared live with arriving units.

Ark Strategic builds a live 3D digital twin of a campus from a LiDAR and drone scan, often completed in a single day though larger campuses can take longer, with every room, exit, utility shutoff, AED, and access point labeled. Responders reach it two ways, neither of which requires anything new to install: through RapidSOS, the platform already connected to the vast majority of US 911 centers, or in any web browser, since the twin runs in the cloud. Either way, your 911 center and on-scene units see the campus inside tools they already have.

A flat floor plan tells responders where the walls are. A digital twin shows them where to go. The platform and setup are bundled into one deployment, often grant-funded, so there is no separate software line item for the district. See how the K-12 platform works.

FAQ

Connecticut school safety, answered

Does Connecticut require school safety mapping?
Yes, Connecticut has acted. Public Act 26-116 stands up a DESPP grant program funding accurate, walk-through-verified school mapping data, with eligibility criteria and deadlines due to be posted by October 1, 2026. Connecticut's Public Act 26-116 (signed June 4, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) creates a state grant program through which DESPP may fund accurate, interoperable school mapping data (verified floor plans, true-north orientation, x/y grid, labeled hazards/AEDs/utilities) for first responders. It sets detailed data standards but is a funding program, not a law forcing every school to buy digital mapping.
What does Public Act No. 26-116 (originally Senate Bill No. 375), "An Act Concerning School Mapping Data Services" require?
Establishes (does NOT compel) a state-administered grant program. The Dept. of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) MAY, within available appropriations, give grants to municipalities and municipal police departments for services that produce school mapping data. To qualify, the mapping data must meet 11 specifications, including: compatibility with the software platforms used by local/state/federal public-safety agencies AND the school's security software, with no additional software purchase or fee required to view/access; available in a printable format and, if requested, a digital file format that integrates into interactive mobile platforms; verified for accuracy via a physical walk-through of buildings and grounds; oriented true north; accurate floor plans overlaid on current verified aerial imagery; site-specific labels matching building structure (room labels, hallway names, external door/stairwell numbers, locations of hazards, critical utilities, key boxes, AEDs, trauma kits) and grounds (parking, athletic fields, surrounding roads, neighboring properties); overlaid with gridded x/y coordinates; unable to be modified without corresponding updates in public-safety software; and provided permanently to the board of education and emergency-services agencies at no cost beyond initial production. It is a funding/standards program, not a hard mandate requiring every school to purchase digital mapping. Recipients of the data: local/regional boards of education and the local, state and federal public-safety agencies that serve the specific school.
When must Connecticut schools comply?
Effective July 1, 2026 (grants available for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, and thereafter). DESPP must develop eligibility criteria, application forms and deadlines and post the program description on its website not later than October 1, 2026. First annual report to the legislature due not later than January 1, 2028. The Act imposes no per-school compliance deadline. Public Act No. 26-116 (originally Senate Bill No. 375), "An Act Concerning School Mapping Data Services". Districts should confirm current timelines with their state education agency.
What grants help Connecticut schools pay for safety mapping?
Connecticut districts may be eligible for programs including School Mapping Data Grant Program (Public Act 26-116), School Security Competitive Grant Program (Public Act 13-3), COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP), Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence). Eligibility, amounts, and deadlines vary by program and should be confirmed at each program's official source.
What is critical incident mapping?
Critical incident mapping is the practice of giving first responders accurate, current digital maps of a building, with rooms, exits, utility shutoffs, AEDs, and access points labeled and shareable in real time, so police, fire, and EMS can navigate an unfamiliar campus during an emergency.

New to the terms? See the school safety mapping glossary for plain-language, sourced definitions, or the national FAQ for the questions districts ask most.

Sources

Every claim, cited

We do not ask you to take our word for any of this. Each numbered citation above links to its primary government source below, with the date we last verified it. Programs and deadlines change, so confirm current rules at the source. How we verify.

  1. Connecticut General Assembly - Public Act No. 26-116 (full enacted text) verified 2026-06-23
  2. CT DEMHS - School Safety and Security (portal.ct.gov) verified 2026-06-23
  3. COPS Office - School Violence Prevention Program (official program page) verified 2026-06-23
  4. U.S. Department of Education - Project SERV (official program page) verified 2026-06-23
Compare across state lines

Neighboring states

School safety mapping varies by state line. See where the states next door stand.

See how the rest of the Northeast region compares on school safety mapping.

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