ADE; school safety; center; programs

HB2142 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

ADE; school safety;
center; programs

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2142

AN
ACT

amending sections 15-154, 15-154.02
and 15-155, Arizona Revised Statutes; amending title 15, chapter 2,
article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-249.20;
relating to school safety requirements.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 15-154, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-154.

School safety program; purpose; school safety center; program
proposals; requirements; annual report; public records exemption; definitions

A. The school safety program is established within
the school safety center within
the department of education to
support, promote and enhance safe and effective learning environments for all
students by supporting the costs of placing school resource officers, juvenile
probation officers, school safety officers, school counselors and school social
workers on school campuses. The school safety program may also
support the costs of purchasing safety technology, safety training and
infrastructure improvements for school campuses as provided in subsection D of
this section. A school district or charter school may apply to participate in
the school safety program as provided in this section for up to three fiscal
years by submitting by April 15 a program proposal to the
department
of education
school safety center
. A
school district or charter school that receives approval for a three-year
program under this subsection may annually submit a modified spending plan for
its approved program.

B. A program proposal submitted by a school district
or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school resource officers,
juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of
these officers, on a school campus shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the school safety needs
of the charter school or school district.

2. A plan to provide the current school building
blueprints, floor plans and school safety assessments for each school site to
the local law enforcement agency, emergency medical services provider and fire
department that provides services to the school site.

3. A plan for implementing a law-related
education program or a plan that demonstrates the existence of a law-related
education program as a school safety prevention strategy.

4. A plan to use trained school resource officers,
juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of
these officers, in the school.

5. A plan to train school resource officers,
juvenile probation officers or school safety officers, or any combination of
these officers, on the family educational rights and privacy act, civil rights
and adolescent mental health issues.

6. If the school district or charter school has
already participated in the school safety program, information on the success,
compliance and implementation of the most recent grant.

C. A program proposal submitted by a school district
or charter school for supporting the costs of placing school counselors or
school social workers, or both, on a school campus shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the school safety needs
of the charter school or school district.

2. A plan to provide the current school building
blueprints, floor plans and school safety assessments for each school site to
the local law enforcement agency, emergency medical services provider and fire
department that provides services to the school site.

3. A plan for implementing a school guidance and
counseling program that includes the following:

(a) A detailed description of the relationship
between the school counselor or the school social worker, or both, and local
community resources.

(b) A plan for using school counselor and school
social worker services in the school, or both.

(c) A detailed description of the methods for
evaluating the effectiveness of the school guidance and counseling plan.

(d) Policies on confidentiality under the school
guidance and counseling plan.

(e) Policies on notifying parents and other family
members of issues or concerns as identified in the school guidance and
counseling plan.

(f) A detailed description of the school's, school
district's or charter school's referral procedures to the appropriate community
entities and state agencies.

4. If the school
district or charter school has already participated in the school safety
program, information on the success, compliance and implementation of the most
recent approved program proposal.

D. If a school district or charter school whose
program proposal pursuant to subsection B or C of this section was approved by
the state board of education cannot place one or more of the school resource
officers, juvenile probation officers, school safety officers, school
counselors or school social workers, or any combination of these individuals,
as included in the approved program proposal, the school district or charter
school may submit an alternative program proposal for supporting the costs of
purchasing safety technology, safety training and infrastructure improvements
for its school campus or campuses. An alternative program proposal
submitted pursuant to this subsection shall contain:

1. A detailed description of the safety needs of the
school district or charter school.

2. A detailed description of the proposed
expenditures and capital improvements, including:

(a) The safety needs that each proposed expenditure
will address.

(b) The specific technology or training program that
the school district or charter school seeks to acquire.

(c) For infrastructure improvements, all costs
associated with the improvements, including architectural and engineering fees,
safety evaluations and equipment for securing entrances and exits.

3. Any other information requested by the
department of education
school safety center
.

E. The
department of education

school safety center
shall review and administer the school
resource officers, juvenile probation officers and school safety officers
program proposals in cooperation with the courts, law enforcement agencies and
law-related education providers awarded a contract pursuant to section 41-2534,
subject to review and approval by the state board of education. The
department of education

school safety center
shall
use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs of each program proposal and
shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit program proposals
in order to verify the information contained in the program
proposals. The
department of education

school safety center
shall contract to provide guidelines,
curricula and support resources for school resource officers, juvenile
probation officers and school safety officers to use in implementing a law-related
education program.

F. The
department of education

school safety center
shall review and administer the school
counselors and school social workers program proposals in cooperation with
school administrators, principals, teachers, parents and community mental
health professionals. The
department of education

school safety center
shall use relevant school-level
academic, social and emotional statistics to assess the needs of each program
proposal and shall visit school districts and charter schools that submit
program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the program
proposals.

G. The
department of education

school safety center
shall review and administer the safety
technology, safety training and infrastructure improvements program
proposals. The
department

school
safety center
shall use relevant crime statistics to assess the needs of
each program proposal and may visit school districts and charter schools that
submit program proposals in order to verify the information contained in the
program proposals. The
department

school safety center
may approve all or part of a safety
technology, safety training or infrastructure improvement program proposal.

H. The
department of education
school safety center
, subject to the review and approval of
the state board of education, shall distribute monies to the school districts
and charter schools that are in compliance with program requirements prescribed
in this section and in section 15-154.02 and whose program proposals have
been approved by the state board of education.

I. The
department of education

school safety center
shall review program proposals submitted
by school districts and charter schools for participation in the school safety
program and shall select school sites that are eligible to receive funding
based on school safety needs pursuant to this section. The
department
of education

school safety center
may prioritize
program proposals for school resource officer, juvenile probation officer and
school safety officer grants to school districts and charter schools that have
agreements to share the cost of the school resource officer, juvenile probation
officer or school safety officer with a law enforcement agency or the courts.

J. The
department of education

school safety center
shall evaluate the effectiveness of all
the approved program proposals submitted pursuant to subsections B, C and D of
this section within the school safety program and report on the activities of
the program and the participants in the school safety program to the president
of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the governor on
or before November 1 of each year and shall provide a copy of this report to
the secretary of state. The evaluation and report shall include
survey results from participating schools and data from participating schools
on the impact of participating in the school safety program. The
department

school safety center
shall
establish data guidelines for school safety program participants to follow in
reporting pursuant to this subsection.

K. The
school safety program
established by this section shall include

school safety
center shall adopt
a school safety program guidance manual
adopted by the department of education

for the
school safety program established by this section
that requires a
dispute resolution process to be included in the service agreement between a
school district or charter school that submitted a program proposal and
received a school resource officer grant or school safety officer grant from
the school safety program and the law enforcement agency that provides services
to the school district or charter school.

L. Any appropriations that are made to the
department of education
or the school safety center

within the department of education
for the approved program
proposals within the school safety program are exempt from the provisions of
section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. �
The
school safety center may use not more than
$6,500,000 per
year from the monies appropriated for the school safety program for the costs
of administering the school safety program. �
All monies that are not
used for an approved program proposal within the school safety program during
the fiscal year for which the monies were appropriated revert to the
department of education

school safety center

for distribution to the program in the following fiscal year.

M.
Monies received by
A school
district or charter school
under

that
receives monies pursuant to
the school safety program shall
be spent

use the monies
to implement the
school district's or charter school's
approved program
proposals
proposal
.

N. The auditor general shall include the school
safety program as part of its ongoing sunset review of agencies and programs.

O. Notwithstanding any other law, school building
blueprints and floor plans are not public records and are exempt from title 39,
chapter 1.

P. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Law-related education" means
interactive education to equip children and youth with knowledge and skills
pertaining to the law, school safety and effective citizenship.

2. "Law-related education program"
means a program designed to provide children and youth with knowledge, skills
and activities pertaining to the law and legal process and to promote law-abiding
behavior with the purpose of preventing children and youth from engaging in
delinquency or violence and enabling them to become productive citizens.

3. "School counselor" means a professional
educator who holds a valid school counselor certificate issued by the
department of education.

4. "School guidance and counseling
program" means a counseling program that supports, promotes and enhances
the academic, personal, social, emotional and career development of all
students.

5. "School resource officer" means any of
the following:

(a) A peace officer.

(b) A full-authority reserve peace officer who
is certified by the Arizona peace officer standards and training board.

(c) An individual who was previously employed as a
peace officer in this state, who retired in good standing

and who is assigned to participate in the school
safety program by a law enforcement agency pursuant to section 15-155.

6. "School safety officer" means a school
resource officer who is working in an off-duty capacity.

7. "School social worker" means a
professional educator who holds a valid school social worker certificate issued
by the department of education.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 15-154.02, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-154.02.

Emergency response plans; school safety assessments; approved
providers; triennial safety assessments

A. Each school district and charter school that
receives monies pursuant to section 15-154 for an approved school safety
program shall do both of the following:

1. Develop an emergency response plan pursuant to
section 15-341, subsection A, paragraph 31 or section 15-183, subsection
E, paragraph 10

to satisfy the
requirements prescribed in this paragraph
.

2. Every five years, contract with a school safety
assessment provider from the list compiled pursuant to subsection B of this
section to conduct a school safety assessment, including an assessment of the
physical security of each school site and a review of the emergency response
plan for each school site.

B. The
school safety center

within the
department of education shall compile a list of
approved school safety assessment providers and shall make the list available
to school districts and charter schools that participate in the school safety
program established by section 15-154.

C. Every three years, the
department
of education

school safety center
shall select a
random sample of school districts and charter schools that are participating in
the school safety program established by section 15-154 and shall conduct
a safety assessment of the selected school districts and charter
schools. The
department

school
safety center
shall provide a copy of the safety assessment results to
the respective school district's governing board or charter school's governing
body and the administrators of each school site that was assessed.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Section 15-155, Arizona Revised
Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE
15-155.

School safety program; funding

A. The
school safety center

within the
department of education shall cooperate with the
county school superintendent, the county sheriff and the local chief of police
to allow a law enforcement agency, with the consent of the school, to assign a
peace officer, a full-authority reserve peace officer who is certified by the
Arizona peace officer standards and training board or an individual who was
previously employed as a peace officer in this state and who retired in good
standing to participate in the school safety program in each school in the
county. The cost of the peace officer is a state charge that is funded by the
department of education
school safety center
,
except for agreements to share the cost of the school resource officer pursuant
to section 15-154, subsection I.

B. In cooperation with the
department
of education

school safety center
and the county
school superintendent and with the consent of the school, the presiding judge
of the juvenile court may assign juvenile probation officers to participate in
the school safety program in each school in the county. The cost of juvenile
probation officers is a state charge that is funded by the
department
of education
school safety center
, except for
agreements to share the cost of the juvenile probation officer pursuant to
section 15-154, subsection I.
END_STATUTE

Sec. 4. Title
15, chapter 2, article 2, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding
section 15-249.20, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-249.20.

School safety center; duties; school safety center council;
members

a. THE SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER IS
ESTABLISHED WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. �THE SCHOOL SAFETY CENTER
, with support from the school safety center council established by
subsection B of this section, SHALL:

1. USE SCHOOL SAFETY SUBJECT MATTER
EXPERTISE TO identify BEST PRACTICES for ENHANCing SCHOOL SAFETY in this state.

2. PROVIDE STATEWIDE TRAINING AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT to SCHOOL SAFETY PERSONNEL, INCLUDING TRAINING RELATED
TO EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, THREAT RESPONSE
, CAMPUS SAFETY
PROTOCOLS
AND PREVENTION MEASURES THAT PROMOTE SCHOOL
SAFETY.

3. ADMINISTER THE SCHOOL SAFETY
PROGRAM ESTABLISHED BY SECTION 15-154, INCLUDING REVIEWING GRANT
APPLICATIONS, MONITORING GRANT RECIPIENTS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE WITH ALL PROGRAM
REQUIREMENTS, REVIEWING PROGRAM PERFORMANCE AND ENFORCING CORRECTIVE ACTION
REQUIREMENTS.

4. PROVIDE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO
SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS for the development of PROGRAMS proposals
for the school safety program pursuant to section 15-154.

5. Provide technical assistance to
school districts and charter schools for the development of EMERGENCY RESPONSE
PLANS PURSUANT TO SECTION 15-183, subsection E, paragraph 10, section 15-341,
subsection A, paragraph 31 and section 15-154.02, subsection A, paragraph
1.

6. RESEARCH AND EVALUATE SCHOOL
SAFETY programs, INITIATIVES
, OUTCOMES
AND PREVENTION MEASURES THAT PROMOTE SCHOOL SAFETY.

7. CONDUCT SCHOOL SAFETY RISK
ASSESSMENTS. THE school safety CENTER MAY OFFER SPECIFIC
RECOMMENDATIONS to a school BASED ON the FINDINGS of a risk assessment that is
conducted pursuant to this paragraph.

8. ADOPT GUIDELINES FOR THREAT
VULNERABILITY
ASSESSMENTS AND PHYSICAL CAMPUS SECURITY
PLANNING.

9. Adopt
guidelines for coordination between schools, the division of emergency
management within the department of emergency and military affairs, the
department of public safety and any local law enforcement agency, emergency
medical services provider or fire department that provides services to schools.

10. Provide technical assistance to
state and local law enforcement agencies to enhance each agency's ability to
respond to online threats against one or more schools.

B. The school safety center council
is established to support the school safety center. The council is composed of
the following members:

1. One member who represents the
school safety center and who is appointed by the superintendent of public
instruction.

2. One member who represents a
statewide association of chiefs of police and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

3. One member who represents a
statewide association of sheriffs and who is appointed by the superintendent of
public instruction.

4. One member who represents a
statewide association of law enforcement officers and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

5. The executive director of the
Arizona peace officer standards and TRAINING board or the executive director's
designee.

6. The director of the department of
emergency and military affairs or the director's designee.

7. The director of the Arizona
department of homeland security or the director's designee.

8. One member who represents a
statewide association of school resource officers and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

9. One member who is a peace officer
in a county with a population of at least two hundred thousand persons and who
is appointed by the superintendent of public instruction.

10. One member who is a peace officer
in a county with a population of less than one hundred thousand persons and who
is appointed by the superintendent of public instruction.

11. One member who is a
superintendent of a school in this state and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

12. One member who is employed by a
school district to oversee school safety and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

13. One member who represents a
nonprofit corporation that operates as a risk retention pool for public schools
and community college districts in this state and who is appointed by the
superintendent of public instruction.

14. One member who represents a
statewide organization that supports school counselors and social workers and
who is appointed by the superintendent of public instruction.

15. One member who represents a
university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, who
researches school safety and who is appointed by the superintendent of public
instruction.

16. One member who is appointed by
the speaker of the house of representatives.

17. One member who is appointed by
the president of the senate.

C. The members of the school safety
center council shall select a chairperson from AMONG the council members each
calendar year. �Members are not eligible to receive compensation but are
eligible for reimbursement of expenses pursuant to title 38, chapter 4, article
2. �The initial members shall assign themselves by lot to terms of two, three
and four years in office. �All subsequent members serve four-year terms
of office. The chairperson shall notify the superintendent of public
instruction, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of
the senate of these terms. �The department of education shall provide meeting
space and administrative support to the council.
END_STATUTE