School shootings prompt more states to fund digital maps for first responders

Special needs child suffers cuts, bruises after he says teacher punched him in face for trying to perfect his homeworkFILE - Knoxville police work the scene following a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tenn., Monday, April 12, 2021. Mass shootings at schools have prompted a growing number of states to encourage the creation of digital maps of facilities to aid emergency responders.

More than 20 states have enacted or proposed digital school mapping measures in the past few years, according to an Associated Press analysis aided by the bill-tracking software Plural. Florida approved $14 million in grants last year. Michigan allotted $12.5 million. New Jersey allocated $12.3 million in federal pandemic relief funds to complete digital maps of every school in the state.

The standards create “a competitive, fair environment” for all vendors, Rodgers said. But when New Jersey sought a mapping contractor, the Critical Response Group had"the only product that was available in the state that answered the legislative criteria,” State Police mapping coordinator Lt. Brendan Liston said.

Creating each map can cost several thousand dollars, and costs can escalate as maps are linked to other security systems, such as wearable panic buttons. But integrations also add value. “If bad people had access to the drawings, that would be almost worse than not knowing” a school’s layout, Wilson said. He added, “We’ve got to be really, really mindful of protecting this information.”Many schools have long provided floor plans to local emergency responders. But they haven't always been digital. As with Uvalde, some plans have lacked important details or become outdated as schools are renovated and expanded.

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