Build Safer Communities and Schools Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
H 1
HOUSE BILL 989

Short Title: Build Safer Communities and Schools Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Representatives Clark, Logan, F. Jackson, and Budd (Primary Sponsors).
For a complete list of sponsors, refer to the North Carolina General Assembly web site.
Referred to: Appropriations, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
April 14, 2025
*H989-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO CODIFY SCHOOL SAFETY GRANTS. 2
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 3
4
CODIFY SCHOOL SAFETY GRANTS 5
SECTION 1.(a) Part 3 of Article 13A of Chapter 143B of the General Statutes, as 6
enacted by S.L. 2024-57, is amended by adding a new section to read: 7
"§ 143B-1209.61. School safety grants for students in crisis, training, and equipment. 8
(a) Definitions. – For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: 9
(1) Community partner. – A public or private entity, including, but not limited to, 10
a nonprofit corporation or a local management entity/managed care 11
organization (LME/MCO), that partners with a public school unit to provide 12
services or pay for the provision of services for the unit. 13
(2) School health support personnel. – School nurses, school counselors, school 14
psychologists, and school social workers. 15
(b) Program; Purpose. – The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall 16
establish the School Safety Grants Program (Program). To the exte nt funds are made available 17
for the Program, its purpose shall be to improve safety in public school units by providing grants 18
for (i) services for students in crisis, (ii) school safety training, and (iii) safety equipment in 19
schools. 20
(c) Grant Applications. – A public school unit may submit an application to the Executive 21
Director of the Center for Safer Schools for one or more grants pursuant to this section. The 22
application shall include an assessment, to be performed in conjunction with a local law 23
enforcement agency, of the need for improving school safety within the public school unit that 24
would receive the funding or services. The application shall identify current and ongoing needs 25
and estimated costs associated with those needs. 26
(d) Criteria and Gu idelines. – The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools 27
shall develop criteria and guidelines for the administration and use of the grants pursuant to this 28
section, including any documentation required to be submitted by applicants. In assessing grant 29
applications, the Executive Director of the Center for Safe r Schools shall consider at least the 30
following factors: 31
(1) The level of resources available to the public school unit that would receive 32
the funding. 33
(2) Whether the public school unit has received other grants for school safety. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 House Bill 989-First Edition
(3) The overall impact on student safety in the public school unit if the identified 1
needs are funded. 2
(e) Grants for Students in Crisis. – Of the funds appropriated to the State Bureau of 3
Investigation for the grants provided in this subsection, the Executive Director of the Center for 4
Safer Schools, in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, shall award 5
grants to public school units to contract with community partners to provide or pay for the 6
provision of any of the following crisis services: 7
(1) Crisis r espite services for parents or guardians of an individual student to 8
prevent more intensive or costly levels of care. 9
(2) Training and expanded services for therapeutic foster care families and 10
licensed child placement agencies that provide services to stu dents who (i) 11
need support to manage their health, welfare, and safety and (ii) have any of 12
the following: 13
a. Cognitive or behavioral problems. 14
b. Developmental delays. 15
c. Aggressive behavior. 16
(3) Evidence-based therapy services aligned with targeted training for students 17
and their parents or guardians, including any of the following: 18
a. Parent-child interaction therapy. 19
b. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. 20
c. Dialectical behavior therapy. 21
d. Child-parent psychotherapy. 22
(4) Any other crisis service, including peer -to-peer mentoring, that is likely to 23
increase school safety. Of the funds appropriated to the Bureau for grants 24
pursuant to this subsection, the Executive Director of the Center for Safer 25
Schools shall not use more than three hundre d fifty thousand dollars 26
($350,000) per fiscal year for the services identified in this subsection. 27
(f) Grants for Training to Increase School Safety. – Of the funds appropriated to the State 28
Bureau of Investigation for the grant provided in this subsection , the Executive Director of the 29
Center for Safer Schools , in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Services, 30
shall award grants to public school units to contract with community partners to address s chool 31
safety by providing training to help students develop healthy responses to trauma and stress. The 32
training shall be targeted and evidence-based and shall include any of the following services: 33
(1) Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training for school health 34
support personnel, local first responders, and teachers on the topics of suicide 35
prevention and reducing access by students to lethal means. 36
(2) Training for school health support personnel on comprehensive and 37
evidence-based clinical treatments for students and their parents or guardians, 38
including any of the following: 39
a. Parent-child interaction therapy. 40
b. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. 41
c. Behavioral therapy. 42
d. Dialectical behavior therapy. 43
e. Child-parent psychotherapy. 44
(3) Training for students and school employees on community resilience models 45
to improve understanding and responses to trauma and significant stress. 46
(4) Training for schoo l health support personnel on Modular Approach to 47
Therapy for Children with Anxiet y, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct 48
problems (MATCH-ADTC), including any of the following components: 49
a. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. 50
b. Parent and student coping skills. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
House Bill 989-First Edition Page 3
c. Problem solving. 1
d. Safety planning. 2
(5) Any other training, includi ng the training on the facilitation of peer -to-peer 3
mentoring, that is likely to increase school safety. Of the funds appropriated 4
to the Bureau for grants pursuant to this subsection, the Executive Director of 5
the Center for Safer Schools shall use no more than three hu ndred fifty 6
thousand dollars ($350,000) per fiscal year for the services identified in this 7
subsection. 8
(g) Grants for S afety Equipment . – Of the funds appropriated to the State Bureau of 9
Investigation for the grant provided in this subsection , the Executive Director of the Center for 10
Safer Schools shall award grants to public school units for (i) the purchase of safety equipment 11
for school buildings and (ii) training associated with the use of safety e quipment purchased 12
pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding G.S. 115C-218.105(b), charter schools may receive 13
grants for school safety equipment pursuant to this subsection. In assessing grant applications, 14
the Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall prioritize applications for the 15
purchase of any of the following school safety equipment: 16
(1) Exterior doors with push bars. 17
(2) Erected vehicle barriers. 18
(3) Security systems that monitor and record school entrances, exits, and 19
hallways. 20
(4) Campus-wide active shooter alarm systems that are separated from fire 21
alarms. 22
(5) Two-way radio systems. 23
(6) Perimeter security fencing. 24
(7) Bullet-resistant glass or film for school entrances. 25
(8) Door-locking systems. 26
(h) Supplement Not Supplant. – Grants provided to public school units or community 27
partners pursuant to the Program shall be used to supplement and not to supplant State or 28
non-State funds already provided for these services. 29
(i) Administrative Costs. – Of the funds appropriated to the State Bureau of Investigation 30
for the grants provided pursuant to this section, the Executive Director of the Center for Safer 31
Schools may retain a total of up to one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per fiscal year for 32
administrative costs associated with the Program. 33
(j) Disbursement. – The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools may enter 34
into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Public Instruction to disburse 35
grants awarded under this section. 36
(k) Report. – No later than April 1 of each fiscal year in which funds are awarded pursuant 37
to the Program, the Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall report on the Program 38
to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee, the Joint Leg islative Oversight 39
Committee on Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Justice 40
and Public Safety, the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations, the Senate 41
Appropriations/Base Budget Committee, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Fiscal 42
Research Division. The report shall include at least the following information: 43
(1) The identity of each public school unit and community partner that received 44
grant funds through the Program. 45
(2) The amount of fundin g received by each entity identified pursuant to 46
subdivision (1) of this subsection. 47
(3) The services, training, and equipment purchased with grant funds by each 48
entity that received a grant. 49
(4) Recommendations for the implementation of additional effecti ve school 50
safety measures." 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 House Bill 989-First Edition
SECTION 1.(b) The Executive Director of the Center for Safer Schools shall 1
establish the School Safety Grants Program as directed by G.S.143B-1209.61, as enacted by this 2
section, and have the application for the Program availab le to public school units no later than 3
August 1, 2025. 4
SECTION 1.(c) There is appropriated from the ARPA Temporary Savings Fund to 5
the State Bureau of Investigation the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) in nonrecurring 6
funds for each year of the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium to fund the School Safety Grants Program 7
under G.S. 143B-1209.61, as enacted by this section. It is the intent of the General Assembly to 8
fund the Program with recurring funds beginning with the 2027-2029 fiscal biennium. 9
SECTION 1.(d) This section becomes effective July 1, 2025. 10
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SEVERABILITY CLAUSE AND EFFECTIVE DATE 12
SECTION 2.(a) If any section or provision of this act is declared unconstitutional or 13
invalid by the courts, it does not affect the validity of this act as a whole or any portion other than 14
the portion declared to be unconstitutional or invalid. 15
SECTION 2.(b) Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 16
law. 17