Ohio school floor plan law

Does Ohio require school floor plans?

Yes. R.C. 5502.262 requires each school administrator to develop and adopt a comprehensive emergency management plan for each building they oversee. The plan's emergency response protocol must include a floor plan unique to each floor of the building and a site plan covering all building property and surrounding property. The administrator must send an electronic copy of the plan to the Director of Public Safety at least once every three years, and file a copy with each law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the building.

Which schools are covered?

The duty applies to the superintendent, principal or other supervisor of city, exempted village, local and joint vocational school districts. Community (charter) schools are covered. Chartered nonpublic schools and educational service centers are covered. The statute's list names chartered nonpublic schools; it does not name non-chartered nonpublic schools. The Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC) reads the law as covering all PK-12 schools regulated by the Department of Education and Workforce.

What must the floor plans and site plans show?

By Department of Public Safety rule, each plan has six parts and is submitted on the department's standardized forms. One part is a floor plan unique to each floor, as outlined in the fire-code rule. The rule itself sets no site plan format beyond what it must cover; format details come from OSSC's standardized forms. OSSC's floor plan checklist (guidance under the state rule) says floor plans go to the department electronically, and lists items every page must have. Those items are one floor per page, evacuation routes, the school name, IRN and address (plus any co-located programs), and a compass, north arrow or alpha-phonetic markers, all as one clear, legible PDF. The checklist encourages, but does not require, schools to work with the local fire department on adding fire-code items such as numbered exits, fire alarm pull stations, extinguishers and AEDs. OSSC's site plan guidelines say a site plan must be an aerial satellite view of the school and its property, labeled with the school name, IRN and address. The guidelines say it must also show at least two cross streets, the assembly point, fire hydrants and fire-truck access routes. Site plans are uploaded through OH|ID as a PDF or image file (GIF, JPG, PNG or TIFF).

What does the fire code add?

Under the Ohio Fire Code, a school must give the local fire code official a detailed drawing of the building floor plans and tornado shelter areas, with each room labeled by use. A copy of that drawing must be kept in each school's office for the state fire marshal or local fire code official to examine. Those tornado provisions apply to public and private primary and secondary schools with an average daily attendance of 20 or more students. An evacuation plan showing primary and secondary routes must be posted at the main exit door inside each room in educational buildings. Ohio's fire code adds AEDs to the floor plan items in the fire safety plan.

Who receives the plans?

The plan goes to the Director of Public Safety and to each law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the building. On request, it must also go to the local fire department, the EMS organization and the county emergency management agency. The Director posts plan information on the state's contact and information management system and sends it to the Attorney General, who posts it on the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway. OSSC staff review every plan, including floor plans and site plans, using a scoring rubric called the Gap Analysis Tool.

How often must the plans be updated?

By September 1 each year, the administrator must review the plan and certify to the Director that it is current and accurate. By rule, that certification covers the plan, the emergency contact information sheet, the floor plan and the site plan, and is done in the school safety plan portal between January 1 and September 1. The plan must be updated and revised at least every three years. It must also be resubmitted whenever a major building change requires new procedures, and whenever the emergency contact sheet changes. After an update, copies must be filed no later than the tenth day after the revision is adopted. Failing to follow the plan rules may lead to discipline of the administrator's educator license.

Are school floor plans confidential?

The plan, its related records and the required information are security records and are not public records. Ohio's public-records law lists an emergency management plan adopted under R.C. 5502.262 as a security record. A floor plan filed with the Attorney General is not a public record to the extent the Attorney General keeps it. Under the general public-records exemption, a simple floor plan showing only how a building's parts relate in space is not an "infrastructure record." Each administrator, and every agency that receives a copy, must keep the plan in a secure place.

Is there state funding?

The 2026-27 state budget (HB 96) appropriates $10,000,000 in each of FY2026 and FY2027 for the Attorney General's School Safety Training Grants, a general school safety grant for public and chartered nonpublic schools and others. One allowed use is school safety supplies or equipment, or equipment for carrying out the school's safety plan. HB 434, signed November 25, 2025, left that grant at $10 million in each year.

What bills are pending?

SB 290 would require districts and chartered nonpublic schools to work with police to put keys, access cards and maps of the school buildings in an exterior master key box. It would set a June 30, 2027 deadline to install at least one such box per building. It would require updated building maps to go to police and emergency responders after substantial building changes. Schools could apply for an Attorney General school safety training grant to pay for the box, and any record showing the box's location would not be public. SB 290 passed the Senate unanimously on May 13, 2026, and was referred to the House Education Committee on May 20, 2026. SB 158, on student cell phone rules, passed the Senate May 14, 2025 and has been in the House Education Committee since May 21, 2025. Its only change to R.C. 5502.262 adds a cell phone protocol; it does not change the floor plan or site plan requirements.