Maryland school safety

School safety mapping laws & grants in Maryland

Yes. Maryland's 2024 School Mapping Data Program (SB 540, Education section 5-310.1) directs the state to set uniform facility mapping standards and fund digital maps of every public school, with FY2026 grant-funded mapping due complete by June 30, 2027.

Maryland's 2024 School Mapping Data Program law (SB 540 / HB 472, Chapter 166, Education § 5-310.1) requires the Interagency Commission on School Construction to set uniform school facility mapping standards and funds local school systems to produce digital maps of every public school so first responders can respond to emergencies. Local systems must cooperate and supply data; funded mapping must meet the IAC standards.[1]

Why this matters in Maryland

Why Maryland schools need this now

Maryland's 1,408 public schools are on a hard clock: every FY2026 mapping grant must be complete by June 30, 2027, and the Interagency Commission's standards demand floorplans, shut-offs, and marked AEDs and trauma kits no static blueprint carries. A single LiDAR and drone scan delivers all of it as one live 3D twin, so a district can close out the grant on time instead of discovering its maps fall short as the deadline lands.

The mandate

What Maryland law requires

Law
School Mapping Data Program (Senate Bill 540 / House Bill 472, 2024; Chapter 166)[1]
Statute
Md. Code, Education Article §§ 5-310.1 and 7-1510.1 (also amending § 7-1512 and General Provisions Article § 4-314.1)[1]
Compliance
Statute effective July 1, 2024. No hard statewide per-school installation deadline in the statute itself; the operative deadline is grant-driven - all FY2026 School Facility Mapping Grant activities (map production to IAC standards) must be completed by June 30, 2027.[2]

What schools must provide: Establishes the School Mapping Data Program in the Maryland Center for School Safety to fund local school systems to produce digital school mapping data for every public school (including public charter schools) to assist first responders responding to school emergencies. Education Article § 5-310.1 directs the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) to adopt uniform facility mapping standards for the physical attributes of public schools; local school systems must cooperate with the IAC and provide data as requested, and all data collected under the Program (including updates/renewals) must comply with those standards. The IAC's adopted School Mapping Data Standards (v1.0, 2025) specify layered content including floorplans, ingress/egress points, room numbers, hallways, stairwells, utility control points, and marked emergency assets (AEDs, trauma kits, fire extinguishers, gas/electrical shut-offs), plus interior and exterior points of interest, intended to integrate with public-safety/response-agency software. School mapping data produced under the Program is exempt from public-records inspection. Note: this is a standards-plus-funding program rather than an absolute statewide per-school 'install by date X or be penalized' mandate.[3]

Funding

Grants that help Maryland 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.

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[4]
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[5]

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

Local systems comply by producing maps that meet the Interagency Commission's standards: floorplans, ingress and egress, room numbers, utility shut-offs, and marked AEDs and trauma kits. A single LiDAR and drone scan delivers all of it as one live 3D digital twin, a clean fit for the School Facility Mapping Grant on a 2027 clock. 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

Maryland school safety, answered

Does Maryland require school safety mapping?
Yes. Maryland's 2024 School Mapping Data Program (SB 540, Education section 5-310.1) directs the state to set uniform facility mapping standards and fund digital maps of every public school, with FY2026 grant-funded mapping due complete by June 30, 2027. Maryland's 2024 School Mapping Data Program law (SB 540 / HB 472, Chapter 166, Education § 5-310.1) requires the Interagency Commission on School Construction to set uniform school facility mapping standards and funds local school systems to produce digital maps of every public school so first responders can respond to emergencies. Local systems must cooperate and supply data; funded mapping must meet the IAC standards.
What does School Mapping Data Program (Senate Bill 540 / House Bill 472, 2024; Chapter 166) require?
Establishes the School Mapping Data Program in the Maryland Center for School Safety to fund local school systems to produce digital school mapping data for every public school (including public charter schools) to assist first responders responding to school emergencies. Education Article § 5-310.1 directs the Interagency Commission on School Construction (IAC) to adopt uniform facility mapping standards for the physical attributes of public schools; local school systems must cooperate with the IAC and provide data as requested, and all data collected under the Program (including updates/renewals) must comply with those standards. The IAC's adopted School Mapping Data Standards (v1.0, 2025) specify layered content including floorplans, ingress/egress points, room numbers, hallways, stairwells, utility control points, and marked emergency assets (AEDs, trauma kits, fire extinguishers, gas/electrical shut-offs), plus interior and exterior points of interest, intended to integrate with public-safety/response-agency software. School mapping data produced under the Program is exempt from public-records inspection. Note: this is a standards-plus-funding program rather than an absolute statewide per-school 'install by date X or be penalized' mandate.
When must Maryland schools comply?
Statute effective July 1, 2024. No hard statewide per-school installation deadline in the statute itself; the operative deadline is grant-driven - all FY2026 School Facility Mapping Grant activities (map production to IAC standards) must be completed by June 30, 2027. School Mapping Data Program (Senate Bill 540 / House Bill 472, 2024; Chapter 166). Districts should confirm current timelines with their state education agency.
What grants help Maryland schools pay for safety mapping?
Maryland districts may be eligible for programs including 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. Maryland General Assembly - SB0540 (2024 Regular Session) official bill page verified 2026-06-23
  2. Maryland General Assembly - SB0540 (2024 Regular Session) official bill page verified 2026-06-23
  3. Maryland General Assembly - SB0540 (2024 Regular Session) official bill page verified 2026-06-23
  4. COPS Office - School Violence Prevention Program (official program page) verified 2026-06-23
  5. 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 South region compares on school safety mapping.

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