Bills › 90th General Assembly
Relating to the security of school district buildings, including establishing the school security grant program within the department of education, establishing design and construction standards for new attendance centers, and making appropriations
Topics:State budgetK–12 educationPublic safety & emergenciesSchool safety
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 12, 2024
- Stopped: SubcommitteeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: House committee
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2024 session adjourned on April 19, 2024, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Iowa school districts can apply for state grants to help pay for security tools like cameras, metal detectors, and reinforced doors or windows. New school buildings built after January 1, 2025, must follow specific safety rules, such as having only one entrance and using classroom doors and windows that can withstand bullets and blasts. The state will provide $3 million every year to fund these security improvements.1
Read the official explanation
This bill relates to the security of school district buildings, including establishing the school security grant program within the department of education (DE) and establishing design and construction standards for new attendance centers. The bill establishes that DE is to provide grants under the program to school districts to help offset the cost associated with installing school safety and security infrastructure, including security camera systems, metal detectors, and security doors and windows. The bill requires DE to adopt rules to administer the program. The bill provides that moneys awarded under the program shall be used to supplement, not supplant, existing public funding used by a school district for similar purposes. The bill establishes a school security grant program fund in the state treasury. The bill appropriates $3 million from the general fund to DE each fiscal year beginning on or after July 1, 2024, for purposes of the program. The bill provides that moneys in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state but shall remain available for expenditure under the program for subsequent fiscal years. The bill also provides that interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The bill requires that all school district buildings that contain classrooms used for instructional purposes that are designed and built on or after January 1, 2025, meet certain specified requirements related to school security, including each door and window within classrooms in the building must be able to withstand breaching, bullets, and explosive blasts, and the building must have only one point of entry, and that point of entry must lead to a main office that is separated from the classrooms in the building by doors that can be locked. The bill requires the state board of education to adopt rules to administer this provision.