Texas school safety

School mapping requirements & 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 do Texas schools need responder-ready maps 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 does Texas law require?

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]

How districts are allowed to buy it: Texas Education Code 48.115(c-1) requires the Texas Education Agency, or the Texas School Safety Center if TEA designates it, to establish and publish a directory of approved vendors of school safety technology and equipment that a district may select from when spending School Safety Allotment funds. A district is not obliged to buy from the directory, but if it buys from a vendor that is not listed it must solicit bids from at least three vendors before completing the purchase. Emergency Response Mapping is one of the technology categories TEA covers in the directory.^[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

What grants help Texas schools pay for mapping?

Texas 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. 48.160, formerly Sec. 48.115)Formula

Funding Increased by House Bill 2 (89th Legislature) from $10 per student in average daily attendance and $15,000 per eligible campus to $20 per ADA and $33,540 per eligible campus, with the per-student component further increased to $21.10 per ADA plus $1 per ADA for every $50 by which the district maximum Basic Allotment exceeds $6,160.

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)Closed

Funding FY26: up to $73,000,000 total available; maximum federal share of $500,000 per award; approximately 200 awards anticipated; 36-month period of performance starting October 1, 2026. A local cash match of at least 25 percent is required unless a waiver is requested and approved. Approximately $1,000,000 was reserved for microgrants of up to $100,000 for rural, tribal, and low-resourced school districts. These are the closed FY26 figures, not a forecast for FY27.

Funds school security technology and equipment, including systems that speed law-enforcement notification during an emergency. (U.S. Department of Justice - Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office))

Most recent cycle closed. Confirm the next cycle at the official source.Listing: 16.710Full program details ^[3]

STOP School Violence Program (BJA) - Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School ViolenceClosed

Funding FY25 solicitation (the most recent on record): award ceiling $2,000,000, award floor $0, 79 awards anticipated. UNVERIFIED: the total program funding figure and the Category 1 / Category 2 split. The Grants.gov synopsis records total program funding as $2,000,000 against 79 awards at a $2,000,000 ceiling, which is internally inconsistent and appears to be a data-entry artefact, and the previously published ~$83,000,000 total and category breakdown could not be re-confirmed on a primary source in this pass. Treat the per-award ceiling as the reliable figure.

Funds evidence-based violence prevention: threat assessment, anonymous reporting, and law-enforcement coordination (cannot fund cameras, locks, or fencing). (U.S. Department of Justice - Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), Office of Justice Programs)

Most recent cycle closed. Confirm the next cycle at the official source.Listing: 16.839Full program details ^[4]

Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence)Rolling

Funding Awards are sized to the incident and vary widely; there is no published per-award cap and no match requirement. The ten published FY2026 awards range from $25,434 (Lower Kuskokwim School District, AK) to $439,630 (Anchorage School District, AK). FY2025 awards ranged from $12,989 to $1,252,000. Two tiers exist, both at the Secretary's discretion and subject to appropriations: Immediate Services (emergency short-term assistance) and Extended Services (longer recovery).

Funds short-term recovery services, including security measures, after a school experiences a violent or traumatic event. (U.S. Department of Education - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Safe and Supportive Schools)

Deadline: No fixed deadline, event-driven. LEAs and IHEs apply on a rolling basis after a qualifying traumatic event by contacting the Department of Education. The program now lists separate contacts for school-violence SERV and natural-disaster SERV; get the current contact from the official program page rather than a cached address.Listing: 84.184SFull program details ^[5]

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

How schools comply

How do Texas schools go 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

What else do Texas districts ask about school mapping?

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. 48.160, formerly Sec. 48.115), 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

Where does every claim on this page come from?

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 89th Legislative Updates (records the transfer of Sec. 48.115 to Subchapter D and its redesignation as Sec. 48.160) verified 2026-09-01
COPS Office - School Violence Prevention Program (official program page) verified 2026-09-01
Bureau of Justice Assistance - Available Funding (current open opportunities listing) verified 2026-09-01
U.S. Department of Education - Project SERV (official program page) verified 2026-09-01

Compare across state lines

What do the states bordering Texas require?

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

Want 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

Which Texas grants does your district actually qualify for?

A free 15-minute review of how your district can meet House Bill 3, 88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session (2023) and which Texas grants will pay for it.

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