West Virginia school safety

School mapping requirements & grants in West Virginia

Yes. West Virginia's W. Va. Code section 18-9F-10a (HB 3166) requires every county board to produce standardized school safety mapping data, verified-imagery floor plans with full site labeling, effective September 1, 2026, with per-school funding available to fund it.

West Virginia HB 3166 (2025) created W. Va. Code §18-9F-10a, requiring every county board of education to produce standardized, interoperable school safety mapping data (verified-imagery floor plans with site labeling) that integrates with public safety/PSAP software and is shared at no cost with the state, Homeland Security, and local police/fire/EMS. The requirement is effective September 1, 2026, and county boards may receive up to $4,500 per school.^[1]

Why this matters in West Virginia

Why do West Virginia schools need responder-ready maps now?

West Virginia's mapping requirement takes effect September 1, 2026, demanding true-north, gridded, fully labeled data interoperable with PSAP software for every one of 684 schools across 64 county boards. With up to $4,500 per school available to fund it, districts that scan now capture the entire specification in one visit and clear the deadline rather than racing it, delivering a live 3D twin responders open with no new software.

The mandate

What does West Virginia law require?

Law

House Bill 3166 (2025 Regular Session)^[2]

Statute

W. Va. Code §18-9F-10a ("Standardized school safety mapping data")^[1]

Compliance

September 1, 2026 (per codified §18-9F-10a: "The school safety mapping requirements of this section shall be effective on September 1, 2026."). Note: the introduced bill draft referenced establishing data "before September 1, 2025"; the codified statute controls and states an effective date of September 1, 2026.^[1]

What schools must provide: Each county board of education must develop standardized school safety mapping data for all public school facilities. The data must include accurate floor plans overlaid on current, verified aerial imagery of the school campus; site-specific labeling such as room names, hallway designations, exterior doors, stairwell numbers, and the locations of hazards, critical utility controls, key boxes, AEDs, and trauma kits; plus parking areas, athletic fields, surrounding roads, and neighboring properties. Maps must use a fixed grid with consistent x/y coordinates, be oriented to true north, conform to/integrate with and be accessible within the software platforms used in local public safety answering points (PSAPs) and by city/county/state/federal public safety agencies without requiring additional software purchases, be printable and shareable electronically, viewable/printable from open-source viewers, and digitally integrated into interactive mobile platforms if requested. The finalized data must be provided at no cost (beyond initial production) to the state board of education, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and local first response agencies including police, fire, and EMS. The statute also authorizes county boards to receive not greater than $4,500 per school for this purpose.^[1]

Funding

What grants help West Virginia schools pay for mapping?

West Virginia 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)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 West Virginia schools go from paper plans to a map responders can actually use?

The statute is exacting: true-north orientation, a fixed grid, room and door labels, hazard, utility, AED and trauma-kit locations, all interoperable with PSAP and public-safety software at no added cost. A single-day LiDAR and drone scan captures the entire specification in one visit and delivers it as a live 3D digital twin responders open through RapidSOS, no new software required. 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 West Virginia districts ask about school mapping?

Does West Virginia require school safety mapping?

Yes. West Virginia's W. Va. Code section 18-9F-10a (HB 3166) requires every county board to produce standardized school safety mapping data, verified-imagery floor plans with full site labeling, effective September 1, 2026, with per-school funding available to fund it. West Virginia HB 3166 (2025) created W. Va. Code §18-9F-10a, requiring every county board of education to produce standardized, interoperable school safety mapping data (verified-imagery floor plans with site labeling) that integrates with public safety/PSAP software and is shared at no cost with the state, Homeland Security, and local police/fire/EMS. The requirement is effective September 1, 2026, and county boards may receive up to $4,500 per school.

What does House Bill 3166 (2025 Regular Session) require?

Each county board of education must develop standardized school safety mapping data for all public school facilities. The data must include accurate floor plans overlaid on current, verified aerial imagery of the school campus; site-specific labeling such as room names, hallway designations, exterior doors, stairwell numbers, and the locations of hazards, critical utility controls, key boxes, AEDs, and trauma kits; plus parking areas, athletic fields, surrounding roads, and neighboring properties. Maps must use a fixed grid with consistent x/y coordinates, be oriented to true north, conform to/integrate with and be accessible within the software platforms used in local public safety answering points (PSAPs) and by city/county/state/federal public safety agencies without requiring additional software purchases, be printable and shareable electronically, viewable/printable from open-source viewers, and digitally integrated into interactive mobile platforms if requested. The finalized data must be provided at no cost (beyond initial production) to the state board of education, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and local first response agencies including police, fire, and EMS. The statute also authorizes county boards to receive not greater than $4,500 per school for this purpose.

When must West Virginia schools comply?

September 1, 2026 (per codified §18-9F-10a: "The school safety mapping requirements of this section shall be effective on September 1, 2026."). Note: the introduced bill draft referenced establishing data "before September 1, 2025"; the codified statute controls and states an effective date of September 1, 2026. House Bill 3166 (2025 Regular Session). Districts should confirm current timelines with their state education agency.

What grants help West Virginia schools pay for safety mapping?

West Virginia districts may be eligible for programs including 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.

West Virginia Code §18-9F-10a (official WV Legislature codified statute) verified 2026-08-24
West Virginia Code §18-9F-10a (official WV Legislature codified statute) verified 2026-08-24
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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia brief on one page?

A printable summary of West Virginia’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 West Virginia grants does your district actually qualify for?

A free 15-minute review of how your district can meet House Bill 3166 (2025 Regular Session) and which West Virginia grants will pay for it.

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