Wisconsin school safety

School safety mapping laws & grants in Wisconsin

Yes. Under 2021 Wisconsin Act 109, every public and private school must submit blueprints or critical incident mapping data to local law enforcement and the DOJ Office of School Safety each time a safety plan is created or reviewed, with mapping data permitted in lieu of blueprints.

Wisconsin requires every public and private school to submit blueprints or critical incident mapping data for each building to local law enforcement and the DOJ Office of School Safety whenever a school safety plan is created or reviewed. 2021 Act 109 lets schools provide interoperable digital critical incident mapping data in lieu of blueprints and funds it through a DOJ grant.[1]

Why this matters in Wisconsin

Why Wisconsin schools need this now

Wisconsin has required schools to hand local law enforcement and the DOJ Office of School Safety either blueprints or critical incident mapping data since 2021 Act 109, refreshed every time a safety plan is reviewed. Static blueprints go stale the moment a wall moves, and the DOJ grant reimburses up to $5,000 per building when you apply jointly with local law enforcement, so a living twin costs little to stand up. When responders enter, the 2023 Act 199 standard, verifiable, digital, real-time, is exactly what gets them to the right room fast.

The mandate

What Wisconsin law requires

Law
2021 Wisconsin Act 109 (amending 2017 Wisconsin Act 143); further refined by 2023 Wisconsin Act 199[2]
Compliance
No fixed statewide calendar deadline in statute. The duty is event-triggered: submission is required upon creation of a school safety plan and upon each subsequent review of that plan (school safety plans are reviewed at least once every 3 years under s. 118.07). Mapping data is permitted in lieu of blueprints, not strictly mandated as a format.[3]

What schools must provide: Upon creation of a school safety plan and upon each review of that plan, every public school board (and the governing body of each private school) must submit a copy of the most recent blueprints OR critical incident mapping data for each school building and facility to (a) each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over any portion of the school district and (b) the DOJ Office of School Safety (OSS). The underlying submission duty originates in 2017 Act 143 (blueprints); 2021 Act 109 amended it to allow critical incident mapping data IN LIEU OF blueprints and created the DOJ grant. Where critical incident mapping data is created with grant funds, it: shall be compatible with platforms and applications used by local, state, and federal public safety officials; may not require those officials, school districts, or private schools to purchase additional software; and shall include information that can best assist first responders in an emergency, such as building numbers, floors, suite designations, room numbers, or other available relevant location information. 2023 Act 199 defines "interactive critical incident mapping data" as interactive representations of a specific location that are verifiable, digital, shareable, and shown in real time.[1]

Funding

Grants that help Wisconsin 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

Schools satisfy the duty by submitting interactive mapping data instead of static blueprints, and the DOJ Office of School Safety grant reimburses per building when the district applies jointly with local law enforcement. A single-day LiDAR scan delivers the verifiable, digital, shareable, real-time twin the 2023 Act 199 definition calls for. 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

Wisconsin school safety, answered

Does Wisconsin require school safety mapping?
Yes. Under 2021 Wisconsin Act 109, every public and private school must submit blueprints or critical incident mapping data to local law enforcement and the DOJ Office of School Safety each time a safety plan is created or reviewed, with mapping data permitted in lieu of blueprints. Wisconsin requires every public and private school to submit blueprints or critical incident mapping data for each building to local law enforcement and the DOJ Office of School Safety whenever a school safety plan is created or reviewed. 2021 Act 109 lets schools provide interoperable digital critical incident mapping data in lieu of blueprints and funds it through a DOJ grant.
What does 2021 Wisconsin Act 109 (amending 2017 Wisconsin Act 143); further refined by 2023 Wisconsin Act 199 require?
Upon creation of a school safety plan and upon each review of that plan, every public school board (and the governing body of each private school) must submit a copy of the most recent blueprints OR critical incident mapping data for each school building and facility to (a) each local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over any portion of the school district and (b) the DOJ Office of School Safety (OSS). The underlying submission duty originates in 2017 Act 143 (blueprints); 2021 Act 109 amended it to allow critical incident mapping data IN LIEU OF blueprints and created the DOJ grant. Where critical incident mapping data is created with grant funds, it: shall be compatible with platforms and applications used by local, state, and federal public safety officials; may not require those officials, school districts, or private schools to purchase additional software; and shall include information that can best assist first responders in an emergency, such as building numbers, floors, suite designations, room numbers, or other available relevant location information. 2023 Act 199 defines "interactive critical incident mapping data" as interactive representations of a specific location that are verifiable, digital, shareable, and shown in real time.
When must Wisconsin schools comply?
No fixed statewide calendar deadline in statute. The duty is event-triggered: submission is required upon creation of a school safety plan and upon each subsequent review of that plan (school safety plans are reviewed at least once every 3 years under s. 118.07). Mapping data is permitted in lieu of blueprints, not strictly mandated as a format. 2021 Wisconsin Act 109 (amending 2017 Wisconsin Act 143); further refined by 2023 Wisconsin Act 199. Districts should confirm current timelines with their state education agency.
What grants help Wisconsin schools pay for safety mapping?
Wisconsin 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. Wisconsin Legislature - 2021 Wisconsin Act 109, s. 118.07(4)(cf) verified 2026-06-23
  2. Wisconsin Legislature - 2021 Wisconsin Act 109, s. 118.07(4)(cf) verified 2026-06-23
  3. Wisconsin Legislature - 2021 Wisconsin Act 109, s. 118.07(4)(cf) 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 Midwest region compares on school safety mapping.

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