North Carolina school mapping law

Does North Carolina require school maps?

Yes. G.S. 115C-105.53 requires each public school unit to give local law enforcement schematic diagrams (building layout drawings), including digital ones. G.S. 115C-105.54 requires each public school unit to give the same diagrams to the Division of Emergency Management at the Department of Public Safety. Since the 2026 budget act (S.L. 2026-41), both duties also include access to school mapping data developed under the state's new mapping program. That act requires the Center for Safer Schools to set up a Critical Incident School Mapping Program to provide accurate maps of each public school unit for use in an emergency.

Which schools are covered?

Public school units include local school administrative units (school districts), charter schools and regional schools. Charter schools and UNC laboratory schools must comply with the public school unit requirements that hold the diagram duties. The Northeast Regional School of Biotechnology and Agriscience, re-enacted by S.L. 2026-41, must comply with those same requirements. The board of trustees of the schools for the deaf and blind must give schematic diagrams and main-entrance keys to local law enforcement. Private church schools and schools of religious charter are only encouraged, not required, to give diagrams and main-entrance keys to local law enforcement. Qualified nonpublic schools are also only encouraged, not required, to take the safety steps listed in G.S. 115C-559(b).

What must the new mapping data show?

School mapping data must include accurate floor plans of each public school unit overlaid on accurate imagery of the school grounds.

The Center for Safer Schools, consulting the Department of Public Instruction and the Department of Public Safety, must develop standards and guidelines for preparing schematic diagrams. Schools may use those standards; the statute does not require them to.

Who makes the maps?

Each public school unit's governing body, consulting its primary local law enforcement agency, must enter into an agreement with a vendor to complete the mapping. The State Bureau of Investigation, consulting the Center, may contract with up to three mapping vendors, and the contracts must give access to bulk and shared pricing. Vendors must provide local tabletop training that includes local stakeholders. Before payment, a vendor must get the primary local law enforcement agency to certify that the mapping meets the statute's requirements, and send that certification to the Center. The Center's work with schools to produce mapping data depends on funds being appropriated for it.

Who receives the maps?

Diagrams go to local law enforcement and to the Division of Emergency Management. The Division must store the diagrams securely and share them, as set out in the School Risk Management Plan, with first responders, emergency personnel and school staff. The Division must also use school diagrams in the state's School Risk and Response Management System (SRRMS). On request, mapping data must be given to each public school unit governing body, local law enforcement agency and other public safety agency for emergency response.

How often must the maps be updated?

Schools must give police updated diagrams when they make substantial changes to buildings, such as new facilities or changes to doors and windows. Schools must give the Division updated diagrams and emergency response information when updates are made. Mapping data must be updated and reverified on a schedule the Center for Safer Schools sets; the statute sets no interval itself.

What are the deadlines?

S.L. 2026-41 was ratified July 2, 2026, approved by the Governor July 7, 2026, and takes effect July 1, 2026 unless it says otherwise. The contracting and procurement required under G.S. 143B-1209.103(e) must be finished no later than January 31, 2027. The Center for Safer Schools must amend or adopt rules to carry out the mapping program.

How is mapping funded?

The 2026 budget's committee report funds a Critical Incident School Mapping line under the Center for Safer Schools to set up the program and produce map data. For FY 2026-27 that line is $1,300,000 recurring plus $13,000,000 nonrecurring, a net $14,300,000. The act makes that committee report part of the act for reading it. No more than $5,000 per school may be spent from the FY 2026-27 nonrecurring funds. Recurring program funds used for each school may not exceed $500 a year.

Are school maps confidential?

Schematic diagrams are not public records and are not open to public inspection. Diagrams and emergency response information sent to the Division are not public records. Data stored in the SRRMS and in the mapping program are not public records.

What bills are pending?

H816 (edition 1) would require nonpublic schools that receive Opportunity Scholarship funds to give schematic diagrams and main-entrance keys to local law enforcement. H1184, the Voucher School Transparency Act, was referred to the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations on May 5, 2026.