Texas school safety

School safety mapping laws & grants in Texas

Yes. Since the 2023-2024 school year, Texas law (HB 3) has required every district and charter school to give DPS, local police, and first responders an accurate, standards-based map of each campus, plus a walk-through, with door-numbering site plans shared electronically with 9-1-1.

Texas law (HB 3, 2023) requires every public school district and charter school to give DPS, local police, and first responders an accurate, standards-based map of each campus and building, covering site/floor plans, access control, and exterior door numbering, plus the chance to walk through using that map. The implementing rule requires electronic door-numbering site plans be shared with 9-1-1, DPS, law enforcement, and first responders.^[1]

Why this matters in Texas

Why Texas schools need this now

Texas already requires it: since the 2023-2024 school year, HB 3 has obligated every one of the state's 9,217 schools to give DPS and first responders an accurate, standards-based map plus a walk-through, certified through the district's Emergency Operations Plan. The School Safety Allotment and formula grants can cover the work, so the real choice is between a thin door-numbering plan and a single live twin that captures site plans, access control, and exterior door numbering at once. When responders move through your campus, the map they carry should match the building exactly.

The mandate

What Texas law requires

Law

House Bill 3, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (2023)^[1]

Statute

Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 37.117 (standards per Sec. 37.351; implemented by 19 Tex. Admin. Code Sec. 61.1031)^[1]

Compliance

Applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year (HB 3 effective Sept. 1, 2023; standards rule 19 TAC Sec. 61.1031 effective May 31, 2023). Compliance is certified through the district's Emergency Operations Plan; no single statewide map-completion calendar date is fixed in statute.^[1]

What schools must provide: Each school district and open-enrollment charter school must provide to the Department of Public Safety and all local law enforcement agencies and emergency first responders (1) an accurate map of each district campus and school building developed and documented in accordance with the standards in Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 37.351 (site and floor plans, access control, and exterior door numbering), and (2) an opportunity to conduct a walk-through of each campus and building using that map. Under the implementing rule (19 TAC Sec. 61.1031(d)(2)(C)), electronic copies of exterior and interior door-numbering site plans must be provided to the local 9-1-1 administrative entity, DPS, local law enforcement, and emergency first responders.^[1]

Funding

Grants that help Texas 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.

Texas state programs

School Safety Allotment (Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 48.115)Formula

All Texas school districts and charter schools, by formula; usable for school safety-related programs, equipment, and technology consistent with statutory safety requirements

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

Compliance is certified through the district's Emergency Operations Plan, and the School Safety Allotment plus formula grants can cover it. A single-day LiDAR-and-drone scan produces a live 3D digital twin that captures site plans, access control, and exterior door numbering in one deployment, with no separate software line item to budget. 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

Texas school safety, answered

Does Texas require school safety mapping?

Yes. Since the 2023-2024 school year, Texas law (HB 3) has required every district and charter school to give DPS, local police, and first responders an accurate, standards-based map of each campus, plus a walk-through, with door-numbering site plans shared electronically with 9-1-1. Texas law (HB 3, 2023) requires every public school district and charter school to give DPS, local police, and first responders an accurate, standards-based map of each campus and building, covering site/floor plans, access control, and exterior door numbering, plus the chance to walk through using that map. The implementing rule requires electronic door-numbering site plans be shared with 9-1-1, DPS, law enforcement, and first responders.

What does House Bill 3, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (2023) require?

Each school district and open-enrollment charter school must provide to the Department of Public Safety and all local law enforcement agencies and emergency first responders (1) an accurate map of each district campus and school building developed and documented in accordance with the standards in Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 37.351 (site and floor plans, access control, and exterior door numbering), and (2) an opportunity to conduct a walk-through of each campus and building using that map. Under the implementing rule (19 TAC Sec. 61.1031(d)(2)(C)), electronic copies of exterior and interior door-numbering site plans must be provided to the local 9-1-1 administrative entity, DPS, local law enforcement, and emergency first responders.

When must Texas schools comply?

Applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year (HB 3 effective Sept. 1, 2023; standards rule 19 TAC Sec. 61.1031 effective May 31, 2023). Compliance is certified through the district's Emergency Operations Plan; no single statewide map-completion calendar date is fixed in statute. House Bill 3, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (2023). Districts should confirm current timelines with their state education agency.

What grants help Texas schools pay for safety mapping?

Texas districts may be eligible for programs including School Safety Allotment (Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 48.115), 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.

Texas Legislature Online - HB 3 (88R) enrolled bill text (creating Tex. Educ. Code Sec. 37.117) verified 2026-06-23
Texas Education Agency - School Safety Related Grant Programs (school safety allotment context; amount per HB 3 / Texas Tribune reporting) 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 Texas brief, on one page

A printable summary of Texas’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 Texas grant & readiness review

A free 15-minute review of which Texas 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 Texas districts