WEST virginia legislature

2025 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

House Bill 3166

By Delegates Hornby, D. Smith, Kyle, J. Cannon, Willis, and Chiarelli

[Reported on March 17, 2025 in the Committee on Education]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section designated §18-9F-10a, relating to allowing county boards to create standardized school safety mapping data; setting forth requirements for mapping data; setting forth the dissemination and cost parameters of data.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

Article 9F. school access safety act.

§18-9F-10a. Standardized school safety mapping data.

(a) In addition to other requirements contained in this article, the Crisis Response Plan required by §18-9F-9 of this code, or the safety program required by §18-9F-10 of this code, each county board of education may create standardized school safety mapping data that at a minimum, requires that mapping data:

(1) Be in formats that conform to, integrate with, and are accessible within software platforms used in local public safety answering points and by the city, county, state, and federal public safety agencies that could provide emergency services at the school without requiring the purchase of additional software or payment of fees to access the data;

(2) Be in formats capable of being printed, shared electronically, and if requested, digitally integrated into interactive mobile platforms in use;

(3) Be viewable and printable from open-source document or image viewers;

(4) Be oriented true north, include a grid with "x" and "y" coordinates for reference;

(5) Have its accuracy verified by the entity producing the data through an on-site walk-through of the school buildings and grounds;

(6) Include accurate floor plans overlaid on current, verified aerial imagery of the school campus;

(7) Include site-specific labeling for school structures such as room names, hallway designations, exterior doors, stairwell numbers, and the locations of hazards, critical utility controls, key boxes, automated external defibrillators, and trauma kits and school grounds, including parking areas, athletic fields, surrounding roads, and neighboring properties; and

(8) Include the requirement that future updates or modifications to the school mapping data conform to and integrate with software platforms used by the relevant public safety agencies.

(b) The school safety mapping data set forth in subsection (a) shall be provided to the state board of education, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and local first response agencies including police, fire, emergency medical services (EMS), and any other local entities the school's crisis response planning team determines should be consulted in accordance with this article.  The data shall be provided at no cost beyond the initial cost of production and shall be made available to such entities permanently.