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Utah school-safety officials report conference turnout, data dashboard and statewide procurement plan
Summary
State school-safety officials told lawmakers they held a national-level conference with about 750 attendees, launched an initial safety dashboard and plan to procure bleed-control kits, first-aid supplies and wearable panic devices for districts beginning fiscal year 2026.
Representative Brad Wilcox and state school-safety officials updated the Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on June 26 about recent school-safety work that includes a national conference, a first look at a statewide dashboard and a planned procurement for kits and alert devices.
Matt Pennington, State Security Chief with the Department of Public Safety, said the annual needs assessment was moved to a three-year cycle and his team will conduct annual progress checks so schools do not “start over every third year.” He described recent collaboration with the fire marshal’s office on plan reviews, site assessments and a distributed antenna system (BDA) testing requirement for radio coverage in schools.
Rhett Larson, School Safety Center coordinator at the Utah State Board of Education, described the conference as the center’s third year and said it drew “about 750 registered participants from 33 school districts, 65 charter schools, and multiple state and local agencies.” He outlined panels on safe-school communities and juvenile-justice fundamentals and said the state superintendent and legislative leaders attended.
Larson told the committee the center will open procurement once fiscal year 2026 begins: “We will be going out through state procurement to purchase bleed control kits, first aid kits, and wearable panic alert devices statewide,” and the goal is to have products and services delivered and in compliance by June 30, 2026. Larson said the center will select up to three vendors to supply wearable panic devices statewide.
Representative Wilcox also reported on conference remarks from victims’ advocates and said one speaker, Michelle Gay, who lost a child at Sandy Hook, invited survivors in the auditorium to stand; she said many people did and the response underscored the prevalence of past abuse and the need for further work on training and reporting.
Committee members asked about vendor selection and the procurement timeline; Larson said the grant subcommittee developed an RFP and the state will look for vendors on state contract. No committee votes were taken on these updates during the meeting.
