Florida SB 1174: Identification Documents

Bill Text

1174 
School Safety Equipment 
2026-01-06T04:32:32Z 
Revising the purpose of specified grants awarded by the Office of Safe Schools; requiring private schools and public schools, including charter schools, respectively, to have specified safety equipment on each campus of the school; requiring the Department of Education, in coordination with the Department of Law Enforcement, to establish minimum specifications for such equipment; authorizing schools to use specified funds to meet the requirements of such safety equipment, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1174 

 By Senator Calatayud 

 38-01515-26 20261174__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to school safety equipment; amending 
 3 s. 1001.212, F.S.; revising the purpose of specified 
 4 grants awarded by the Office of Safe Schools; amending 
 5 ss. 1002.42 and 1006.07, F.S.; defining terms; 
 6 requiring private schools and public schools, 
 7 including charter schools, respectively, to have 
 8 specified safety equipment on each campus of the 
 9 school; requiring the Department of Education, in 
 10 coordination with the Department of Law Enforcement, 
 11 to establish minimum specifications for such 
 12 equipment; authorizing schools to use specified funds 
 13 to meet the requirements of such safety equipment; 
 14 providing training requirements for such safety 
 15 equipment; requiring schools to report specified 
 16 information to the office; authorizing the office to 
 17 conduct random audits for specified purposes; 
 18 providing an effective date. 
 19 
 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 21 
 22 Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 1001.212, Florida 
 23 Statutes, is amended to read: 
 24 1001.212 Office of Safe Schools.—There is created in the 
 25 Department of Education the Office of Safe Schools. The office 
 26 is fully accountable to the Commissioner of Education. The 
 27 office shall serve as a central repository for best practices, 
 28 training standards, and compliance oversight in all matters 
 29 regarding school safety and security, including prevention 
 30 efforts, intervention efforts, and emergency preparedness 
 31 planning. The office shall: 
 32 (9) Award grants to schools to improve the safety and 
 33 security of schools school buildings based upon recommendations 
 34 of the security risk assessment developed pursuant to subsection 
 35 (1) or as provided in s. 1002.42(21). 
 36 Section 2. Subsection (21) is added to section 1002.42, 
 37 Florida Statutes, to read: 
 38 1002.42 Private schools.— 
 39 (21) SCHOOL SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.— 
 40 (a) For purposes of this subsection, the term: 
 41 1. “Ballistic shield” means a mobile protective device 
 42 meeting the National Institute of Justice’s Level IIIA ballistic 
 43 resistance standards or higher. 
 44 2. “Breaching tool” means a device designed to provide 
 45 rapid access to locked or barricaded doors in an emergency, 
 46 including, but not limited to, a Halligan bar, sledgehammer, or 
 47 hydraulic breaching tool approved by a local law enforcement 
 48 agency. 
 49 3. “Campus” means the grounds and facilities of a private 
 50 school. 
 51 (b) Each private school shall have at least one breaching 
 52 tool and one ballistic shield on each campus of the school for 
 53 use in the event of an active assailant or other life 
 54 threatening incident. The Department of Education, in 
 55 consultation with the Department of Law Enforcement, shall 
 56 establish minimum specifications for breaching tools and 
 57 ballistic shields. 
 58 (c) Each private school may use existing grants from the 
 59 School Hardening Grant Program as funded by the Legislature or 
 60 may use other available state or private funds to meet the 
 61 requirements of this subsection. 
 62 (d) Each private school shall ensure that at least one 
 63 school employee or the school’s safe-school officer receives 
 64 annual training on the deployment and safe use of the equipment 
 65 required under this subsection. The training must be conducted 
 66 in coordination with the sheriff’s office or a local law 
 67 enforcement agency having jurisdiction. 
 68 (e) Each private school shall annually report to the Office 
 69 of Safe Schools, in a format prescribed by the office, that the 
 70 equipment required under this section is present on each campus, 
 71 functional, and accessible. The office may conduct random audits 
 72 to verify compliance with this subsection. 
 73 Section 3. Paragraph (i) is added to subsection (6) of 
 74 section 1006.07, Florida Statutes, to read: 
 75 1006.07 District school board duties relating to student 
 76 discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall 
 77 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the 
 78 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper 
 79 attention to health, safety, and other