[{"_1":2,"_100":-5,"_101":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76,88],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",5977743,"mediaKeyId","5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7","parentId",5808756,"title","Task force highlights swatting, online hoaxes and inconsistent after‑hours security; panel pushes standard communication templates","audioSeconds",3800,"startMs",670220,"endMs",4470985,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7&start=670&end=4470","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7/thumbnail_670220.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/5977743/Utah/Task-force-highlights-swatting-online-hoaxes-and-inconsistent-afterhours-security-panel-pushes-standard-communication-templates","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5977743-6a882d367f4dabc2b8ff32249d4e646f/orig.mp4?Expires=1770511819&Signature=EdbhiTVCeYGluK3cNhCIeODNdMmbCk0Bw~3YUpdgXM7eV6odsVpOVr-i~VIhfpHs5xOj1ZZKS1U-JrUOj4IGUaGZ1mvOYsFOEK-b3~o9P~Ne9bFHz6NPPEafwuUhtkXF2eFBQJPcO0tbaOakETrWzVzZhP4T7Oj17oh4cwx0Z9sdMFpIdSoqG9W2U1mKFReur9FhYwurNRFW6ViJLjhTqYWbIP7v0vqtZldJkrfNWFUhz~s30pRXmG2xj6TZj5CM7i5jCBft2CDMrCgSzsjt2k3vDCyjopp1qzKVtyAX7faZG-5sfP2W2cn374RV8gLPI03l7RmABSPfrI722HVNkA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Utah Legislature","date","2025-09-22T00:00:00Z","article","Members of the School Safety Task Force raised repeated concerns about online hoaxes, swatting, “don’t show up tomorrow” threats and inconsistent security at after‑hours school events, and officials outlined ongoing work to give districts clear guidance and ready‑made communications.
Chief Jon Pennington said his team is finding inconsistent security at after‑hours events such as football games: “Some don’t allow reentry, some do bag checks, some have 4, 5, 6 police officers, some have 2. And so there just isn’t really any consistency to what the protocols look like for after hours,” he told the panel. Pennington suggested the task force consider whether to parallel mass‑gathering permit standards or produce guidance specific to K‑12 athletic and cultural events.
Lieutenant Jared Carson described repeated social‑media hoaxes and “don’t show up to school tomorrow” posts; the St. George lieutenant said the district has already processed “about 20 or so” such incidents this school year and credited improved dispatch training for reducing unnecessary escalations. “We’re really having a ton of those as we start to run them backwards,” he said.
USBE staff told the task force they have prepared a communications packet of templates for school leaders learned from other districts’ experiences, and that they have distributed Utah‑adapted templates so districts can pre‑populate messages for use during hoaxes or confirmed incidents. “We have a ready‑made communication template that they can go and they can tweak,” Chantelle Coda said, adding that excessive public messaging can itself create safety hazards and complicate law‑enforcement response.
The task force heard a national example of rapid prevention and how coordinated notification worked elsewhere: Chief Randy Watt described a Facebook post in Queens, New York, that led to integrated federal and local response and an arrest before an attack could be carried out. “Within 30 minutes, the FBI had notified the NYPD. NYPD responded within 12 minutes to the school,” Watt said, using the example to argue for stronger early‑warning systems and faster cross‑agency communication in Utah.
Several task force members urged the group to professionalize communications and standardize hoax response. USBE said it will encourage districts to adopt and pre‑record standardized messages and to use the annual required training for school safety directors as a venue to confirm contacts and community resource lists.
Task force members asked staff to draft a communications recommendation and a short list of suggested operational practices for after‑hours events; the task force intends to consider those recommendations at the October meeting so any changes can be finalized before the November session.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","School Security Task Force - September 22, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Officials told the task force that online hoaxes, swatting and inconsistent event security are creating repeated responses and recommended standardized communications, better guidance for after‑hours events and continued emphasis on early‑warning systems.","taxTitle","2025 Utah Legislature, Utah Legislature, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah","taxId",78171,"location","Utah","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},5977748,"State and local officials report more armed personnel, guardians training and a unified needs assessment coming this fall",5107,557660,5664715,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7&start=557&end=5664","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7/thumbnail_557660.jpg","/articles/5977748/Utah/State-and-local-officials-report-more-armed-personnel-guardians-training-and-a-unified-needs-assessment-coming-this-fall","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5977748-e9dea7a735c78584eb9c1480665d668a/orig.mp4?Expires=1770511819&Signature=mxyRVKOO8~EUhfTC01-n~aEJoEMXILzrWHBa-CU-aWcR6RujpcnGBdlrb-sSnJ-b3L6jZttFXvRupQwI~q27SQYjtbGT7g-Nz4G2UGc6vN4lVi7wbs2qBRvD~jm~ciH~20FidgXquuCnNSIpafyszT01WJ-O7RlcS9IadkXe9CTlC6~OB45Vd1kJnlwAEyixPcqmzbl8SrIYWH-0fHRJssOayUlhe2rkSkxReUrrWAJLrqt5aODL~0kw2D8NjQzaG-LBFV39fCM0IXrwjtel09Ls1RSfh-t0du1fWsJ2CGAdgYQLlvRumzOYJk2mqF~S2hJciykFvgijf12bpiRVYw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","State and local public‑safety leaders and USBE staff told the School Safety Task Force that implementation of recent school‑safety statutes is underway and that key operational measures are moving from policy into practice.
Chief of the state security division (Department of Public Safety) told the task force his office is visiting schools annually to track statutory timelines and implementation. “We had about 270 [SROs] last year. My guess is we’re approaching 300 this year based on what I’ve heard from sheriffs and chiefs around the state,” Chief Jon Pennington said. Pennington also reported that “as of last week, there are 525 guardians that have been trained and submitted into the program, spanning around 20 LEAs.”
Pennington said his team is checking compliance as part of an annual, smaller‑scale needs assessment that will keep a running baseline rather than re‑starting every three years. The state and USBE said they are finalizing a single, unified needs‑assessment form for statewide rollout and expect to issue it within weeks; USBE staff said the form should be ready by October and that districts already have statutory three‑year needs assessments in place unless they are brand‑new schools.
Local law enforcement reflected the on‑the‑ground operational issues. Lieutenant Jared Carson, St. George Police Department, told the panel that Washington County and the district have implemented a guardian program across their schools and are scheduling the next round of guardian training. “I believe there’s a 100% in our school district with the Guardian program, at all of our schools,” Carson said, and noted the district is tracking guardian assignment and movement as personnel transfer between schools.
Carson and other presenters said practical issues remain: older school buildings are not built to current secure‑entry standards; some campus layouts include unlocked inter‑building doors; and districts vary in how they staff and manage large, after‑hours events such as football games. New construction is being used where possible to build secure entryways and other features; one new Washington County school will open with the newer security designs in place.
USBEs Chantelle Coda told the task force that stop‑the‑bleed and first‑aid kits are contracted and will be distributed to districts this fall. “Bleed kits and first aid kits will be in schools this fall. We are just tying a bow on that contract and getting those things out,” she said. USBE staff also said panic‑alert device selection is in a vendor review stage with PSAP and DPS experts on the panel.
USBE and DPS officials reiterated that most districts are working toward compliance and that the state’s next phase is to provide support, monitor implementation and move from supportive interventions to higher levels of oversight only where needed. Chief Pennington described the tiered approach as beginning with notification and assistance and reserving more prescriptive remedies for persistent noncompliance.","DPS and local police told the task force that the number of school resource officers and trained guardians is rising, stop‑the‑bleed kits are being delivered this fall and a unified needs‑assessment instrument will be issued statewide in the coming weeks.",{"_33":89,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":90,"_41":91,"_43":92,"_45":93,"_47":94,"_49":95,"_51":96,"_53":97,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":98,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":99,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},5977752,"State board formalizes school-safety rules, training and a statewide dashboard as part of a broader compliance plan",1725,1045905,2770960,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7&start=1045&end=2770","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5808756-6dfb3addf4eefff3d52ca7a3cf7e1af7/thumbnail_1045905.jpg","/articles/5977752/Utah/State-board-formalizes-school-safety-rules-training-and-a-statewide-dashboard-as-part-of-a-broader-compliance-plan","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/5977752-3bea301abde667ed05feb0838b52f9aa/orig.mp4?Expires=1770511819&Signature=dkj04jj0uOUSnEDkfn9~vBol-~gsZJ356gVAbKlwtPh1DpDk3l9TT-BM0wThewo6KfjWquFiJQzYesSGXVNCfYtKT73TVmwZOvEYa0q-LTxgVerqFKUxbu2FPc5d-LpJ8aCXXdGexpDCtIb9pjG9y6OfI-4L99NZ2V4AMHBAdELdcHIzf5k6u8N6AqZKVrZuFltqSV7FVfI4m9uvi~5sFP26xBb8xFm5PlNxzTwMFoNn4Gn-~NLtU5FFfOZOViCD1RL5eTr5tKVkDhg6wUUIDDxsp-hRHrWkO67t3vttinIEXCrTRAH7-ua9si4StnFOjGvjGRHiGaVuFillSMGxoQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Utah State Board of Education is pushing several regulatory and operational changes intended to standardize school safety across the state, USBE officials told the School Safety Task Force on a statewide update.
The board has formalized three strategic goals — elevating student learning, promoting educator quality and optimizing oversight and accountability — and has amended rule R277-400 to add recovery definitions, an incident-response grid, and explicit avoid‑deny‑defend and aid language for the Standard Response Protocol, Chantelle Coda, director of school safety and student services at USBE, told the task force.
USBE’s additions aim to align expectations for drills, emergency response and post‑incident recovery across local education agencies and charter schools. “We’ve added those definitions so that everyone is clear and understands roles and responsibilities for moving that work forward,” Coda said. She also said USBE has set a deadline of Oct. 15 for districts to hold an annual safety meeting with administrators, SROs and safety staff.
Board members and staff described additional operational steps that are about to move from planning into deployment. USBE staff said a school-safety dashboard will go on the board’s October consent calendar; mass‑casualty first‑aid (stop‑the‑bleed) kits are contracted and scheduled for distribution “this fall”; panic‑alert devices are in vendor review with PSAP (public safety answering point) experts on the selection committee; and the early‑warning system procurement is being revised and reissued as an RFP to better match state needs.
“We are just tying a bow on that contract and getting those things out,” Coda said of bleed and first‑aid kits. “We are in the final weeks of getting these things out.”
USBE also presented a five‑level compliance framework to structure oversight. The framework keeps levels 1–3 as supportive interventions (training, assistance and technical support) and reserves more prescriptive measures — up to recommending closure for severe, unresolved noncompliance — for levels 4–5, USBE staff said. Member Carrie Voorhees said the board has debated how and where the framework should be codified; USBE staff now plan to advance it through the board’s law and licensing committee and then to the full board.
Molly A. Hart, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, framed the work as a structural and data problem: “One of my top three responsibilities as your new state superintendent is figuring out a way to make all this data talk, be safe and be useful,” Hart said. Hart and Coda said the dashboard and the early‑warning system are intended to provide interoperable, interpretable data for local leaders and policymakers, not only raw counts.
USBE emphasized training and consistent language. Coda said all LEAs have a school safety director and every school has a safety or security specialist, and that those staff will be required to attend annual trainings tied to the new rule and compliance expectations. She described the Standard Response Protocol language change (adding avoid, deny, defend and aid) as part of that training package; she said a shared vocabulary helped in a recent incident response and “I believe, saved lives.”
What happens next: USBE will present R277‑114 (enforcement and accountability) to the full board next month and expects the compliance framework to appear in law and licensing prior to a full‑board vote. The panic‑alert vendor review panel will include DPS and PSAP experts; the dashboard is scheduled for formal approval in October; and the unified needs‑assessment instrument is in final edits for statewide rollout.
The board’s staff said the technical and procurement work remains complex and that timeline estimates remain subject to procurement length and rural delivery timing. “We can go out and buy a product — procurement takes a little time,” Hart said. “We need effective, which means we need to coordinate rather than just go to the store and buy something.”
USBEs next steps will be rule votes, vendor review and statewide rollout of training and supplies; the board stressed that full implementation and auditing are the next, harder tasks once policy decisions are finalized.","Utah State Board of Education staff told the School Safety Task Force they have adopted new rule language and are rolling out training, first-aid supplies and a safety dashboard this fall while moving a 5-level compliance framework toward rule adoption.","actionData","errors"]

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Task force highlights swatting, online hoaxes and inconsistent after‑hours security; panel pushes standard communication templates

State and local officials report more armed personnel, guardians training and a unified needs assessment coming this fall

State board formalizes school-safety rules, training and a statewide dashboard as part of a broader compliance plan