SESSION WATCH
THE BILL ITSELF

SB 1174

School Safety Equipment

VERSION S 1174 Filed · BACK TO THE SUMMARY · OFFICIAL RECORD

underlined language is being added; struck language is being deleted. Line numbers are the Legislature's own — the same ones amendments cite.

Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1174 By Senator Calatayud 38-01515-26 20261174__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school safety equipment; amending
3 s. 1001.212, F.S.; revising the purpose of specified
4 grants awarded by the Office of Safe Schools; amending
5 ss. 1002.42 and 1006.07, F.S.; defining terms;
6 requiring private schools and public schools,
7 including charter schools, respectively, to have
8 specified safety equipment on each campus of the
9 school; requiring the Department of Education, in
10 coordination with the Department of Law Enforcement,
11 to establish minimum specifications for such
12 equipment; authorizing schools to use specified funds
13 to meet the requirements of such safety equipment;
14 providing training requirements for such safety
15 equipment; requiring schools to report specified
16 information to the office; authorizing the office to
17 conduct random audits for specified purposes;
18 providing an effective date.
20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22 Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 1001.212, Florida
23 Statutes, is amended to read:
24 1001.212 Office of Safe Schools.—There is created in the
25 Department of Education the Office of Safe Schools. The office
26 is fully accountable to the Commissioner of Education. The
27 office shall serve as a central repository for best practices,
28 training standards, and compliance oversight in all matters
29 regarding school safety and security, including prevention
30 efforts, intervention efforts, and emergency preparedness
31 planning. The office shall:
32 (9) Award grants to schools to improve the safety and
33 security of schools school buildings based upon recommendations
34 of the security risk assessment developed pursuant to subsection
35 (1) or as provided in s. 1002.42(21) .
36 Section 2. Subsection (21) is added to section 1002.42,
37 Florida Statutes, to read:
38 1002.42 Private schools.—
39 (21) SCHOOL SAFETY EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS.—
40 (a) For purposes of this subsection, the term:
41 1. “Ballistic shield” means a mobile protective device
42 meeting the National Institute of Justice’s Level IIIA ballistic
43 resistance standards or higher.
44 2. “Breaching tool” means a device designed to provide
45 rapid access to locked or barricaded doors in an emergency,
46 including, but not limited to, a Halligan bar, sledgehammer, or
47 hydraulic breaching tool approved by a local law enforcement
48 agency.
49 3. “Campus” means the grounds and facilities of a private
50 school.
51 (b) Each private school shall have at least one breaching
52 tool and one ballistic shield on each campus of the school for
53 use in the event of an active assailant or other life
54 threatening incident. The Department of Education, in
55 consultation with the Department of Law Enforcement, shall
56 establish minimum specifications for breaching tools and
57 ballistic shields.
58 (c) Each private school may use existing grants from the
59 School Hardening Grant Program as funded by the Legislature or
60 may use other available state or private funds to meet the
61 requirements of this subsection.
62 (d) Each private school shall ensure that at least one
63 school employee or the school’s safe-school officer receives
64 annual training on the deployment and safe use of the equipment
65 required under this subsection. The training must be conducted
66 in coordination with the sheriff’s office or a local law
67 enforcement agency having jurisdiction.
68 (e) Each private school shall annually report to the Office
69 of Safe Schools, in a format prescribed by the office, that the
70 equipment required under this section is present on each campus,
71 functional, and accessible. The office may conduct random audits
72 to verify compliance with this subsection.
73 Section 3. Paragraph (i) is added to subsection (6) of
74 section 1006.07, Florida Statutes, to read:
75 1006.07 District school board duties relating to student
76 discipline and school safety.—The district school board shall
77 provide for the proper accounting for all students, for the
78 attendance and control of students at school, and for proper
79 attention to health, safety, and other matters relating to the
80 welfare of students, including:
81 (6) SAFETY AND SECURITY BEST PRACTICES.—Each district
82 school superintendent shall establish policies and procedures
83 for the prevention of violence on school grounds, including the
84 assessment of and intervention with individuals whose behavior
85 poses a threat to the safety of the school community.
86 (i) School safety equipment requirements.—
87 1. For purposes of this paragraph, the term:
88 a. “Ballistic shield” means a mobile protective device
89 meeting the National Institute of Justice’s Level IIIA ballistic
90 resistance standards or higher.
91 b. “Breaching tool” means a device designed to provide
92 rapid access to locked or barricaded doors in an emergency,
93 including, but not limited to, a Halligan bar, sledgehammer, or
94 hydraulic breaching tool approved by a local law enforcement
95 agency.
96 c. “Campus” means the grounds and facilities of a public
97 school, including charter schools.
98 2. Each public school, including charter schools, shall
99 have at least one breaching tool and one ballistic shield on
100 each campus of the school for use in the event of an active
101 assailant or other life-threatening incident. The Department of
102 Education, in consultation with the Department of Law
103 Enforcement, shall establish minimum specifications for
104 breaching tools and ballistic shields.
105 3. Each school may use existing grants from the School
106 Hardening Grant Program as funded by the Legislature or may use
107 other state or private funds to meet the requirements of this
108 paragraph.
109 4. Each school shall ensure that at least one school
110 employee or the school’s safe-school officer receives annual
111 training on the deployment and safe use of the equipment
112 required under this paragraph. The training must be conducted in
113 coordination with the sheriff’s office or a local law
114 enforcement agency having jurisdiction.
115 5. Each school shall annually report to the Office of Safe
116 Schools, in a format prescribed by the office, that the
117 equipment required under this section is present on each campus,
118 functional, and accessible. The office may conduct random audits
119 to verify compliance with this paragraph.
120 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.