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Introduced December 17, 2025 by Burgess Owens · Last progress December 17, 2025
Expands the Department of Homeland Security clearinghouse on school safety to conduct research, testing, training, technical assistance, and demonstrations of panic-alarm and related technologies; creates a national School Safety Data Center to collect standardized school-safety data; requires annual Clearinghouse reports to Congress; sets technical and ownership standards for emergency response maps and bars federal procurement of noncompliant maps starting in FY2026; and requires national reporting and evaluation of school “master plans” for preventing and responding to shootings. The Act clarifies the Clearinghouse has no rulemaking authority and defines key terms and deadlines for data, mapping, and reporting activities.
The bill centralizes federal coordination, standardized definitions, mapping, and evidence-based support to improve school safety and emergency response, while imposing new costs, privacy/security risks, and potential reductions in local control and non-technological prevention resources.
Students, teachers, and school staff gain clearer, evidence-based master plans and definitions that standardize prevention and response to school shootings, improving on-site preparedness and potentially reducing injuries and deaths.
State and local education agencies, schools, and first responders receive coordinated federal technical assistance, training, and a designated DHS lead to streamline support and increase capacity for implementing proven school-safety practices.
First responders and school site owners get interoperable, standardized emergency response maps (with ownership and reuse rights and annual verification) accessible on common devices, improving situational awareness and on-site emergency response.
Students, staff, and schools face increased privacy and security risks because expanded data collection, widely shared emergency maps, and dissemination to federal, state, and private entities could expose sensitive personal information and facility details.
Taxpayers, state and local governments, and school districts may incur substantial new costs and administrative burdens for planning, technology procurement, verification, hosting (including U.S.-only data center requirements), and reporting.
Emphasis on technological solutions (e.g., panic alarms and detailed maps) may divert limited resources away from non-technological prevention strategies like counseling, behavioral interventions, and mental-health services.