Connecticut school mapping rule
How Connecticut's school floor-plan duty works, which schools it covers and what the 2026 school mapping grant law does.
Every fact checked against the official source by an independent reviewer · Last verified October 26, 2026
Does Connecticut require school floor plans?
Through state standards, not the statute. Every local and regional board of education must develop and carry out a security and safety plan for each school it runs. Those plans must be based on the state's school security and safety plan standards from DESPP (the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection). The statute itself does not mention floor plans or maps. The standards, dated July 2025, say each school must put together a reference kit for first responders that includes several copies of laminated, easy-to-read floor plans. These standards are agency-issued, not a statute and not a formally adopted regulation. The same standard says the kit also holds master keys to interior and exterior door locks, and other items chosen after consulting school officials, local police, the emergency management director and first responders. DESPP, working with the Department of Education, must re-evaluate and update the standards every three years.
Which schools are covered?
The state emergency management division says the plan requirement covers all Connecticut public schools, including state charter schools, regional education service centers, state vocational technical schools and publicly endowed high schools. State guidance says charter schools and schools run by regional education service centers are captured by the plan statutes, §§ 10-222m and 10-222n. By statute, charter schools are subject to all state laws governing public schools, apart from waivers the law allows.
Who receives the floor plans?
Standard 11 calls for the floor-plan kit to be available for first responders; it does not require schools to deliver floor plans to police, fire, 911 or a state agency. Separately, each board must send every school's security and safety plan to DESPP every year, under § 10-222m(c) as rewritten by Public Act 26-1, effective July 1, 2026. Under the standards, boards must send an electronic copy of each year's plans to their DEMHS (Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security) Regional Coordinator by November 1.
How often are plans reviewed?
Boards must review their school security and safety plans every year and update them if needed. The state's plan self-review checklist asks whether each school builds a first-responder reference kit with several copies of laminated, easy-to-read floor plans. DEMHS says it does not approve school plans; it gives schools a checklist to test their plan against the standards. DEMHS also says it will not accept a plan that clearly fails the standards, such as a template sent back with the blanks unfilled. DEMHS says districts without a plan may be denied state funding, including school construction and school security grants.
Are school floor plans confidential?
Connecticut's public records law can withhold records when there are reasonable grounds to believe release may create a safety risk to people or government facilities. Those records include engineering and architectural drawings of government-owned or leased facilities, and emergency plans. Records withheld under that exemption must still be given to a law enforcement agency that asks for them. From July 1, 2026, boards must give members of the school community, on request, any part of a school's safety plan that the public records law does not bar from release.
What is the 2026 school mapping grant?
Public Act 26-116 lets DESPP, within available appropriations, run a grant program for school mapping data. It is optional, and it adds no mapping duty for schools. The program takes effect July 1, 2026 and can run from the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027 onward. Municipalities and municipal police departments, not school boards, may apply, for one or more schools in their municipality. DESPP must develop eligibility criteria, application forms and deadlines and post a description of the program on its website by October 1, 2026. DESPP must report on the program to the legislature by January 1, 2028 and every year after.
What must grant-funded maps include?
| To qualify, grant-funded mapping data must | Source |
|---|---|
| Work with the software of the public safety agencies serving the school, with no extra software purchase or viewing fee | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(1) |
| Work with the school's own security software platforms | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(2) |
| Be printable and, on request, in a digital format that works with interactive mobile platforms | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(3) |
| Be checked for accuracy by whoever produces it, with a walk-through of the buildings and grounds | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(4) |
| Be oriented true north | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(5) |
| Include accurate floor plans laid over current, verified aerial imagery of the campus | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(6) |
| Label rooms, hallways, external doors or stairwells, hazards, critical utilities, key boxes, AEDs (defibrillators) and trauma kits | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(7) |
| Label the grounds: parking areas, athletic fields, surrounding roads and neighboring properties | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(8) |
| Be overlaid with a grid of x and y coordinates | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(9) |
| Not be updated on its own without the same update reaching public safety agencies' software | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(10) |
| Go to the board of education and the public safety agencies serving the school, permanently, at no cost beyond the first production cost | PA 26-116 § 1(b)(11) |
The legislature's fiscal analysts said the bill sets aside no money for the grant program. They estimated school mapping data typically costs about $8,000 to $10,000 per building.
Has the law changed recently?
SB 375 of 2026 became Public Act 26-116, signed by the Governor on June 4, 2026. The 2025 school mapping bill, SB 1382, passed the Senate as amended on June 2, 2025, then was tabled on the House calendar the same day and was not enacted. SB 298 (Public Act 26-1), which rewrote the yearly plan filing in § 10-222m(c), was signed on March 3, 2026; the Governor's line-item vetoes did not touch that section.
How can QuickSecure help?
QuickSecure builds your campus floor plans in Nexus from your building drawings. They show every room by name, every door and exit, and where your AEDs, fire extinguishers and fire alarms are.
Administrators can open the plans in the dashboard at any time.
In a Lockdown, Nexus shows on the floor plan which rooms are secured.
Dispatch sends the building, address and room to 911 through RapidSOS.
This is not a statement that any product satisfies Connecticut's requirements; that reading belongs to your district and its counsel.