SB 1355
Initials CH/LN Page 1 Education
ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Fifty-seventh Legislature
First Regular Session
Senate: ED DPA 4-3-0-0 | 3rd Read 17-10-3-0
SB 1355: school mapping data; requirements; accessibility.
Sponsor: Senator Gowan, LD 19
Committee on Education
Overview
Creates the School Mapping Data Program (Program) and School Mapping Data Program
Fund (Program Fund) within the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to facilitate
emergency responses on school campuses. Appropriates $10,360,000 from the state General
Fund (GF) in FY 2026 to the Program Fund.
History
A school district governing board must develop, in conjunction with local law enforcement
and emergency response agencies, an emergency response plan for each school in accordance
with the minimum standards developed by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and
the Division of Emergency Management within the Department of Emergency and Military
Affairs (DEMA). Any emergency response plan must address how the school and emergency
responders will communicate with and assist students with disabilities (A.R.S. § 15-341).
ADE provides both emergency operations plan (EOP) development guidance and templates
for schools to use when developing an EOP. In 2024, ADE and DEMA published an edition of
the Arizona Minimum Requirements for School EOPs that all local education agencies must
comply with beginning in the 2026-2027 school year (ADE and Arizona Minimum
Requirements for EOPs).
Provisions
Program
1. Establishes the Program in ADE to facilitate efficient emergency responses on school
campuses by ensuring that school mapping data (data) is accurate, standardized and
accessible to public safety agencies. (Sec. 1)
2. Requires ADE to develop standardized Program requirements and guidelines that ensure
that:
a) data software:
i. is compatible with software platforms used by local, state and federal public safety
agencies that provide emergency services to schools;
ii. does not require a public safety agency to purchase additional software or pay a
fee to view or access the data;
iii. includes printable data; and
iv. does not allow a school site's data to be modified or updated without updating the
data within each platform used by a local, state or federal public safety agency
that may provide emergency services.
b) data is oriented true north, overlaid with gridded X and Y coordinates and includes:
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i. accurate floor plans overlaid on current, verified aerial images of the school
campus;
ii. site-specific labels that match the structure of each school building and the school
grounds; and
iii. the location of each critical utility, key box, automated external defibrillator,
trauma kit and any known hazard at each school site; and
c) if a school contracts with a vendor to produce data, the contract ensures that:
i. public safety agencies and the school have perpetual access to all data at no
additional cost; and
ii. each contractor that produces data will verify the accuracy of the data by
conducting a walk-through of all school buildings and grounds. (Sec. 1)
3. Mandates each school:
a) develop data for each school site consistent with Program requirements;
b) annually review each school site's data and either certify to ADE, or update the data
to ensure, that the data is complete, accurate and meets Program requirements; and
c) annually provide the data for each school site to each local, state and federal public
safety agency that may provide emergency services to the school. (Sec. 1)
4. Exempts data from public records, public records requests and public disclosure. (Sec. 1)
5. Defines school as a public school that offers instruction in kindergarten or any of the 1st-
12th grades. (Sec. 1)
Program Fund
6. Establishes the Program Fund that is administered by ADE and states that:
a) it consists of appropriated monies and grants, gifts, devises and donations; and
b) monies are continuously appropriated and exempt from lapsing. (Sec. 1)
7. Appropriates $10,360,000 from the GF in FY 2026 to the Program Fund. (Sec. 2)
8. Allows each school to apply for a grant in a form and manner prescribed by ADE. (Sec. 1)
9. Directs ADE to distribute grants from the Program Fund to eligible schools on a first-
come, first-served basis. (Sec. 1)
10. Requires a school that receives Program Fund grant monies to use the grant monies for
the costs of developing data. (Sec. 1)
11.