Tennessee school safety

School safety mapping laws & grants in Tennessee

Yes. Tennessee's SAVE Act (Tenn. Code Ann. section 49-6-804) requires every public school district and charter school to give local law enforcement, the Department of Education, and the Department of Safety their floor plans for all school buildings each year by July 1.

Tennessee law requires every public school district and charter school to give local law enforcement, the state Department of Education, and the Department of Safety their school safety plans and the floor plans for all school buildings each year by July 1, and requires those plans to ensure responders have access to floor plans/blueprints/maps of the building and grounds.^[1]

Why this matters in Tennessee

Why Tennessee schools need this now

The SAVE Act makes all 148 of Tennessee's districts hand law enforcement floor plans for every building each July 1, and a static blueprint filed once goes stale the moment a wall moves across 1,905 schools. A live 3D twin keeps every floor plan current year over year and reaches responders through RapidSOS, turning a recurring annual filing into an asset that actually helps when a building changes.

The mandate

What Tennessee law requires

Law

Schools Against Violence in Education (SAVE) Act, as amended by Public Chapter 367 (HB0322, 2023)^[2]

Statute

Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-6-804 (with § 49-6-805 and § 49-6-808)^[2]

Funding

Grants that help Tennessee 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.

Tennessee state programs

FY26 Public School Security GrantOpen

Funding $20 million statewide, one-time/non-recurring; per-district allocation based on Average Daily Membership (ADM); no local match required

All Tennessee public school districts (LEAs)

^[3]

Statewide School Resource Officer (SRO) Program GrantAnnual

Funding Funding not to exceed $75,000 per year, per SRO, per school

Local law enforcement agencies providing POST-certified SRO services to Tennessee K-12 public, public charter, and alternative schools

Recurring program, confirm the current cycle at the source^[4]

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^[5]

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^[6]

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

Because the duty repeats every July 1 and must guarantee responders access to accurate building and grounds maps, static blueprints filed once and forgotten fall short. A single-day LiDAR and drone scan produces a live 3D digital twin that keeps every floor plan current and reaches responders through RapidSOS, with no new software for them to buy or install. 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

Tennessee school safety, answered

Does Tennessee require school safety mapping?

Yes. Tennessee's SAVE Act (Tenn. Code Ann. section 49-6-804) requires every public school district and charter school to give local law enforcement, the Department of Education, and the Department of Safety their floor plans for all school buildings each year by July 1. Tennessee law requires every public school district and charter school to give local law enforcement, the state Department of Education, and the Department of Safety their school safety plans and the floor plans for all school buildings each year by July 1, and requires those plans to ensure responders have access to floor plans/blueprints/maps of the building and grounds.

What grants help Tennessee schools pay for safety mapping?

Tennessee districts may be eligible for programs including FY26 Public School Security Grant, Statewide School Resource Officer (SRO) Program Grant, 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.

2024 Tennessee Code § 49-6-804, Adoption of comprehensive plans (Justia) verified 2026-06-23
2024 Tennessee Code § 49-6-804, Adoption of comprehensive plans (Justia) verified 2026-06-23
TN Dept. of Education - Grants & Safe Schools Act verified 2026-06-23
TN Dept. of Safety & Homeland Security - Statewide SRO Program Grant verified 2026-06-23
COPS Office - School Violence Prevention Program (official program page) verified 2026-06-23
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.

Free brief

The Tennessee brief, on one page

A printable summary of Tennessee’s mapping mandate, the grants that fund it, the buyer-side standard, and a district readiness checklist. Built to forward to your board.

→ Mandate status and key deadlines
→ State and federal grants that pay for it
→ Readiness checklist, every claim cited

Get your free Tennessee grant & readiness review

A free 15-minute review of which Tennessee mapping grants your district qualifies for and how a live digital twin would work for your campus.

→ First responder pre-registration included
→ One scan, one school day, zero disruption to classes
→ Grant guidance for Tennessee districts