School Security Amendments

9
53F-2-208
53F-2-424
53F-9-204
1
School Security Amendments
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Ryan D. Wilcox
Senate Sponsor:
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This bill creates the School Safety Support Program to provide funding for school safety
requirements and infrastructure.
Highlighted Provisions:
This bill:
creates the School Safety Support Program (program) to fund school safety personnel,
building standards, emergency protocols, and security infrastructure;
establishes a distribution formula that allocates funding to charter schools and school
districts based on enrollment and base amounts;
requires local education agencies to submit safety plans and annual reports to receive
funding;
adds the program to the list of education programs eligible for annual inflation and
enrollment growth adjustments;
protects the program from funding reductions due to negative enrollment growth;
directs the state board to collaborate with the School Safety Center and state security
chief to establish rules and monitor implementation; and
makes technical changes.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Utah Code Sections Affected:
AMENDS:
53F-2-208
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapters 6, 165
53F-9-204
, as last amended by Laws of Utah 2025, Chapters 413, 433
ENACTS:
53F-2-424
, Utah Code Annotated 1953
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
Section 1. Section
53F-2-208
is amended to read:
53F-2-208
. Cost of adjustments for growth and inflation.
(1)
In accordance with Subsection
(5)
, the Legislature shall annually determine:
(a)
the estimated state cost of adjusting for inflation in the next fiscal year, based on a
rolling five-year average ending in the current fiscal year, ongoing state tax fund
appropriations to the following programs:
(i)
education for youth in care, described in Section
53E-3-503
;
(ii)
concurrent enrollment courses for accelerated foreign language students described
in Section
53E-10-307
;
(iii)
the Basic Program, described in
Part 3
, Basic Program (Weighted Pupil Units);
(iv)
the Adult Education Program, described in Section
53F-2-401
;
(v)
state support of pupil transportation, described in Section
53F-2-402
;
(vi)
the Enhancement for Accelerated Students Program, described in Section
53F-2-408
;
(vii)
the Concurrent Enrollment Program, described in Section
53F-2-409
;
(viii)
the juvenile gang and other violent crime prevention and intervention program,
described in Section
53F-2-410
;
(ix)
the School Safety Support Program, described in Section
53F-2-424
;
(x)
the flexible allocation, described in Section
53F-2-421
; and
(x)
(xi)
dual language immersion, described in Section
53F-2-502
; and
(b)
the estimated state cost of adjusting for enrollment growth, in the next fiscal year, the
current fiscal year's ongoing state tax fund appropriations to the following programs:
(i)
a program described in Subsection
(1)(a)
;
(ii)
educator salary adjustments, described in Section
53F-2-405
;
(iii)
the Salary Supplement for Highly Needed Educators Program, described in
Section
53F-2-504
;
(iv)
the Voted and Board Local Levy Guarantee programs, described in Section
53F-2-601
; and
(v)
charter school local replacement funding, described in Section
53F-2-702
.
(2)
The state board shall provide all information necessary to calculate adjustments
described in Subsection
(1)
to the Office of the Legislative Fiscal Analyst no later than
October 15 of each year.
(3)
In accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative Rulemaking Act, the
state board shall make rules to ensure compliance with Subsection
(2)
, including:
(a)
establishing the necessary information from the LEA, including:
(i)
fall student enrollment counts;
(ii)
the number of educators the LEA employs; and
(iii)
other information as the Utah Code identifies for each program described in
Subsection
(1)
; and
(b)
requiring a deadline for an LEA to provide the information necessary for the state
board to comply with Subsection
(2)
.
(4)
If an LEA does not meet the deadline or provide the required information described in
Subsection
(3)
, the state board may not use the LEA's information to calculate growth as
described in Subsection
(1)(b)
.
(5)
(a)
In or before December each year, the Executive Appropriations Committee shall
determine:
(i)
the cost of the inflation adjustment described in Subsection
(1)(a)
; and
(ii)
the cost of the enrollment growth adjustment described in Subsection
(1)(b)
.
(b)
The Executive Appropriations Committee shall make the determinations described in
Subsection
(5)(a)
based on recommendations developed by the Office of the
Legislative Fiscal Analyst, in consultation with the state board and the Governor's
Office of Planning and Budget.
(6)
Beginning in the 2026 fiscal year, if the Executive Appropriations Committee includes
in the public education base budget or the final public education budget an increase in
the value of the WPU in excess of the amounts described in Subsection
(1)(a)
, the
Executive Appropriations Committee shall also include an appropriation to the Local
Levy Growth Account established in Section
53F-9-305
in an amount equivalent to at
least 0.5% of the total amount appropriated for WPUs in the relevant budget.
(7)
Notwithstanding Subsection
(1)(b)
, the School Safety Support Program, described in
Section
53F-2-424
, may not receive funding reductions based on negative enrollment
growth.
Section 2. Section
53F-2-424
is enacted to read:
53F-2-424
. The School Safety Support Program -- Distribution formula -- State
board duties.
(1)
As used in this section:
(a)
"Participating LEA" means an LEA that receives money appropriated under this
section.
(b)
"Program" means the School Safety Support Program created in this section.
(c)
"School Safety Center" means the same as that term is defined in Section
53G-8-801
.
(d)
"State security chief" means the same as that term is defined in Section
53-22-101
.
(2)
There is created the School Safety Support Program to provide funding to an LEA to
implement and maintain:
(a)
school safety personnel requirements described in:
(i)
Section
53-22-102
; and
(ii)
Section
53G-8-701.5
;
(b)
building and safety standards described in:
(i)
Section
53-22-102
; and
(ii)
Section
53E-3-706
;
(c)
emergency response protocols described in:
(i)
Section
53-22-102
; and
(ii)
Section
53G-8-803
;
(d)
safety and security devices and infrastructure described in:
(i)
Section
53-22-102
; and
(ii)
Section
53G-8-805
;
(e)
safety needs identified from the LEA's school safety needs assessment described in
Section
53G-8-701.5
; and
(f)
other school safety requirements or needs established in:
(i)
Title 53, Chapter 22, School Security Act;
(ii)
Title 53G, Chapter 8, Part 7, School Safety Personnel; and
(iii)
Title 53G, Chapter 8, Part 8, State Safety and Support Program.
(3)
In accordance with Subsection
(4)
and subject to legislative appropriations, the state
board shall:
(a)
distribute money appropriated under this section to an LEA to implement school
safety requirements and needs as described in Subsection
(2)
; and
(b)
distribute the money as follows:
(i)
to charter schools, an amount equal to:
(A)
the total charter school enrollment on October 1 in the prior year, or projected
enrollment for a charter school in the charter school's first year of operations,
divided by enrollment on October 1 in public schools statewide in the prior
year multiplied by the total amount available for distribution; and
(B)
the amount described in Subsection
(3)(b)(i)(A)
allocated to each charter
school with 20% divided equally among all charter schools, and 80%
distributed on a per-student basis; and
(ii)
to school districts, the remainder of funds available after the distribution to
charter schools under Subsection
(3)(b)(i)
, allocated as follows:
(A)
$250,000 for a school district with enrollment less than 1% of total state
enrollment;
(B)
$175,000 for a school district with enrollment of between 1% and 5% of total
state enrollment;
(C)
$100,000 for a school district with enrollment greater than 5% of total state
enrollment; and
(D)
the remainder distributed on a per-student basis.
(4)
In accordance with Subsection
(5)
, to receive money under this section, an LEA shall
submit to the School Safety Center:
(a)
a plan that includes:
(i)
the LEA's proposed use of program money as the uses align with school safety
requirements and needs described in Subsection
(2)
;
(ii)
measurable goals for improving school safety;
(iii)
proposed safety compliance timelines; and
(iv)
coordination efforts with local law enforcement described in Section
53-25-601
;
and
(b)
an annual report that includes:
(i)
progress toward achieving the goals submitted under Subsection
(4)(a)
;
(ii)
expenditure of program money; and
(iii)
compliance with school safety requirements.
(5)
(a)
Before the calculation is performed in Subsection

(3), the state board shall set
aside 10% of the appropriation for training reimbursement to law enforcement
entities performing the training requirements described in Section
53-22-105
.
(b)
An LEA shall pay a law enforcement entity for the training of school safety
personnel described in Section
53-22-105
.
(c)
An LEA shall submit reimbursement requests to the state board to cover expenses for
the training of school safety personnel described in Subsections
(5)(a)
and
(b)
.
(6)
The state board in collaboration with the School Safety Center and the state security
chief, shall:
(a)
make rules in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah Administrative
Rulemaking Act, to establish:
(i)
procedures for submitting a plan and distributing money under this section;
(ii)
permitted uses of program money; and
(iii)
reporting requirements; and
(b)
monitor the program's implementation.
(7)
To reduce administrative burden to an LEA, the state board shall use methods to
automate reporting requirements established under this section wherever possible.
Section 3. Section
53F-9-204
is amended to read:
53F-9-204
. Public Education Economic Stabilization Restricted Account.
(1)
There is created within the Uniform School Fund a restricted account known as the
"Public Education Economic Stabilization Restricted Account."
(2)
(a)
Except as provided in Subsection
(2)(b)
, the account shall be funded from the
following revenue sources:
(i)
15% of the difference between, as determined by the Office of the Legislative
Fiscal Analyst:
(A)
the estimated amount of ongoing Income Tax Fund and Uniform School Fund
revenue available for the Legislature to appropriate for the next fiscal year; and
(B)
the amount of ongoing appropriations from the Income Tax Fund and Uniform
School Fund in the current fiscal year; and
(ii)
other appropriations as the Legislature may designate.
(b)
(i)
If the appropriation described in Subsection
(2)(a)
would cause the ongoing
appropriations to the account to exceed 11% of Uniform School Fund
appropriations described in Section
53F-9-201.1
for the same fiscal year, the
Legislature shall appropriate only those funds necessary to ensure that the ongoing
appropriations to the account equal 11% of Uniform School Fund appropriations
for that fiscal year.
(ii)
If the appropriation described in Subsection
(2)(a)
would cause the ongoing
appropriations to the account to exceed the limit described in Subsection
(2)(b)
(i),
the Legislature may appropriate to the School Safety Support Program described
in Section
53F-2-424
an amount up to 1% of the total weighted pupil unit value
for that fiscal year from the revenue that would otherwise be appropriated to the
account under Subsection
(2)(a)
.
(3)
Subject to the availability of ongoing appropriations to the account, in accordance with
Utah Constitution, Article X, Section 5, Subsection
(4)
, the ongoing appropriation to the
account shall be used to fund:
(a)
except for a year described in Subsection
(3)(b)
or
(c)
, one-time appropriations to the
public education system, including at least $65,000,000 to the Catalyst Center Grant
Program described in Section
53E-3-507.1
;
(b)
the Minimum School Program for a year in which Income Tax Fund revenue and
Uniform School Fund revenue are insufficient to fund:
(i)
ongoing appropriations to the public education system; and
(ii)
enrollment growth and inflation estimates, as defined in Section
53F-9-201.1
; and
(c)
the minimum basic local amount as defined in Section
53F-2-301
for a year in which
the minimum basic tax rate, as defined in Section
53F-2-301
, is insufficient to
generate the amount described in Subsection
53F-2-301(2)(a)
.
(4)
(a)
The account shall earn interest.
(b)
All interest earned on account money shall be deposited in the account.
(5)
On or before December 31, 2023, and every three years thereafter, the Office of the
Legislative Fiscal Analyst shall:
(a)
review the percentages described in Subsections
(2)(a)(i)
and
(2)(b)
; and
(b)
recommend to the Executive Appropriations Committee any changes based on the
review described in Subsection
(5)(a)
.
(6)
In preparing budget bills for a given fiscal year, the Executive Appropriations
Committee shall make the one-time appropriations described in Subsection
(3)(a)
by
appropriating at least the lesser of 10% of the total amount of the one-time
appropriations to:
(a)
the cost of providing 32 paid professional hours for teachers in accordance with
Section
53F-7-203
;
(b)
the amount to make the distribution required under Section
53F-2-527
;
(c)
the cost of the Stipends for Future Educators Grant Program described in Section
53F-5-223
; and
(d)
the cost of the Rural School Sports Facilities Grant Program described in Section
53F-10-303
.
(7)
No later than October 15 of each year, the state board shall report to the Office of the
Legislative Fiscal Analyst an estimated cost for each of the one-time appropriations
described in Subsection
(6)
.
Section 4.
Effective Date.
This bill takes effect on
May 6, 2026
.
2-2-26 9:46 AM