Agency asks for $10 million for school safety: vestibules, vehicle barricades and grants to districts

State construction staff asked the Appropriations Committee to approve a $10,000,000 capital appropriation for school safety and security measures, including secure vestibules and vehicle barricades.

The agency proposed using roughly $2,000,000 to fund initial design work focused on vestibules and vehicle barricades and distributing the remaining $8,000,000 across districts by average daily membership for defined projects. The agency reported it surveyed districts and received 41 responses identifying 51 facilities without secure vestibules and a need for 178 vehicle barricade installations. Districts’ highest‑priority lists totaled roughly $36.3 million for their top project and $16.2 million for second priorities.

The agency estimated an average cost of about $650 per square foot to retrofit or add vestibules (including tie‑ins to existing buildings) and proposed an initial design appropriation of $2–$3 million to develop individual project estimates and grant applications. Agency staff also identified interior door locks and exterior door locking systems as lower‑cost, high‑priority items, totaling an estimated $6.0 million for those requests across districts.

Committee members asked whether major maintenance or remaining district‑level funds could cover some requests; agency staff said some districts have available 10% major‑maintenance funds that could be used for safety projects, but new systems generally require capital construction funding unless covered by that remaining 10% bucket.

The committee took no immediate funding action during the hearing; staff said that with design dollars in hand they would return with individualized project requests.