Purpose

Create a School Safety Threat Assessment Pilot Project to help prevent and respond to visible and concealed threats affecting student and staff safety in schools. The project will use new technology and coordination with emergency services to enhance protection.

Main Provisions

• Establishment of the Pilot

  • The Department of Public Safety’s Office of Justice Programs, working with the School Safety Center, must establish a pilot project to assess and address threats to safety in schools.
  • The project must aim to prevent threats, respond to them, and protect students, educators, administrators, and staff.
  • The Office of Justice Programs must contract with a vendor to provide services that combine advanced threat anticipation, real-time monitoring, and rapid response capabilities.
  • The vendor’s services must provide real-time alerts that coordinate with emergency services and must integrate with existing school security applications. They must also support coordinating the locking of school doors to keep threats outside the buildings.
  • The services may use predictive analytics and artificial intelligence–driven software to meet these requirements.

• Criteria for Participants

  • One school district in every congressional district will be selected to participate, ensuring both large and small districts are represented.
  • Districts that already have a similar system are not eligible.

• Reporting Requirement

  • By January 15, 2027, the Commissioner of Public Safety must report to the chairs and ranking minority members of the relevant education and public safety committees.
  • The report must include:
  • An evaluation of the pilot’s effectiveness in enhancing school safety.
  • Feedback from participating schools, staff, students, and families.
  • Recommendations on statewide implementation, funding structures, and system improvements.

• Appropriation

  • $4,000,000 from the general fund in fiscal year 2027 is appropriated to implement the pilot project.

Significance and Changes to Law

• Creates a new, time-limited School Safety Threat Assessment Pilot Project within the public safety framework.
• Introduces a contract with an external vendor to provide integrated threat anticipation, real-time monitoring, rapid response, and AI/predictive analytics capabilities.
• Establishes a formal process for selecting districts and a mandatory evaluation and reporting timeline.
• Provides initial funding to launch the pilot, with a pathway for potential statewide adoption if the pilot proves effective.

Implementation Details to Note

• The project emphasizes integration with existing security systems and features like door-lock coordination.
• The focus is on both prevention and rapid response to threats affecting safety in schools.

Relevant Terms - School Safety Threat Assessment Pilot Project - Department of Public Safety - Office of Justice Programs - School Safety Center - real-time alerts - advanced threat anticipation - rapid response - predictive analytics - artificial intelligence–driven software - existing school security applications - locking school doors - visible and concealed threats - school safety - statewide implementation - funding structures - general fund appropriation - fiscal year 2027 - district selection (one per congressional district) - pilot evaluation and reporting - emergency services coordination