Task force approves funds and procurement for school safety after statewide needs assessments

The Utah School Security Task Force voted to authorize immediate purchases and near-term work to address gaps identified in school safety needs assessments and to fund completion of a school safety dashboard.

Representative Ryan D. Wilcox, chair of the task force, opened discussion by noting that the needs-assessment requirement stems from earlier legislation and that the group had initial results to use for prioritizing grants. Micah Wicksen, legislative research and general counsel, summarized recent appropriations: the Legislature previously established a $72,000,000 grant program under HB 61 and last year’s HB 84 appropriated roughly $100,000,000 for school security grants. Wicksen said that HB 84 divides new funding into two buckets — about $50,000,000 for general grants the task force can prioritize statewide and about $48,000,000 for targeted grants to specific local education agencies — and reminded members that districts generally have until the end of 2026 to spend earlier award funds.

Chantelle Cota, director of school safety and student services at the Utah State Board of Education, told the task force that 100% of Utah schools submitted the school safety needs assessment. Cota described the nine minimum standards laid out in HB…