Learn · Compliance

School and Campus Mapping Requirements

By the ScanningAndModeling team · Last updated July 16, 2026

A growing number of states now require or fund the mapping of school and college campuses so first responders can navigate them during an emergency. The requirements vary from full statutory mandates to grant programs that pay for the work, but the underlying deliverable is consistent: a verified, gridded, true-north campus map that public-safety agencies can use. This guide covers Florida's Section 1013.13 mapping data grant program in detail, then maps the national picture, and shows where a scanning and field-capture provider fits into the ecosystem. It is written for the people who own this problem: facilities directors, safety and security officers, and district and college administrators.

Florida: the Section 1013.13 mapping data grant program

Florida runs one of the most detailed school mapping regimes in the country, written into Section 1013.13 of the Florida Statutes. The statute creates the School Mapping Data Grant Program inside the Department of Education "in order to facilitate efficient emergency responses." It is the clearest published specification of what a campus safety map has to be, which is why it is worth reading closely even if you operate outside Florida.

Who it covers

The program reaches every public school district, including charter schools, and Florida College System institution facilities. Each district, in consultation with local law enforcement and public safety agencies, may apply for funds to provide school mapping data for each public school in the district, and may use the funds to procure a vendor to produce that data.

The exact map specification

This is the part that turns a vague idea of a "safety map" into a buildable deliverable. The statute requires that the mapping data be provided in electronic or digital format and that it contain each of the following:

• Oriented true north.
• Overlaid on current aerial imagery.
• Overlaid with gridded x and y coordinates.
• Site-specific labeling that matches the structure of school buildings, including room labels, hallway names, and external door or stairwell numbers.
• Locations of hazards, critical utility locations, key boxes, automated external defibrillators, and trauma kits.
• Site-specific labeling that matches the school grounds, including parking areas, athletic fields, surrounding roads, and neighboring properties.
• Verified for accuracy by a walk-through of school buildings and grounds.

The data must also be compatible with the software platforms used by local, state, and federal public safety agencies and with the security software the school already runs, "without requiring such agencies to purchase additional software or requiring a fee to view or access the data." It must be available in a printable format and, on request, in a digital file format that can be integrated into interactive mobile platforms. Our explainer on how critical incident mapping works walks each of these properties and why responders need it.

The October 1 revision cycle

The map is not a one-time purchase. By October 1 of each year, the district superintendent must submit revised floor plans and other relevant documents for each educational facility that was modified during the preceding year. A renovated wing, a renumbered door, a new building: each triggers a revision. This annual cadence is why we treat campus mapping as a standing relationship with a re-verification cycle rather than a single job.

How districts comply

In practice a district applies through the Department of Education program, consults its local law enforcement and public safety agencies on requirements, and procures a vendor to capture the campuses and produce the specified data. The producing party is responsible for delivering the data to the district and to local law enforcement and public safety agencies for use in emergencies and in drills. The Florida Department of Education administers the grant program.

The national picture

Florida is not alone. Over the past several years, roughly a dozen states have enacted school mapping laws or grant programs, and reporting has tracked critical incident mapping laws cropping up in at least eleven states, as documented by StateScoop. Two distinct legislative patterns have emerged, and they are often confused.

The mapping-specific requirements are the ones that create demand for capture and modeling work. A representative sample of real programs:

Texas

Under the Texas Education Code, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools must provide the Department of Public Safety, local law enforcement, and emergency first responders an accurate map of each campus, developed to state standards covering site and floor plans, access control, and exterior door numbering, along with an opportunity for responders to conduct a walk-through using the provided maps. The relevant provisions live in Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code, and the Texas Education Agency and Texas School Safety Center support implementation.

Virginia

Virginia operates a statewide digital mapping program for K-12 schools administered by the Department of Criminal Justice Services, combining aerial imagery with on-site verified floor plans, site-specific labels, and a grid overlay. Program details are published by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.

New Jersey

New Jersey was the first state to pass Alyssa's Law, requiring panic alarms in schools, enacted as P.L. 2019, c.33. The panic-alert requirement and the mapping deliverable are related but distinct, which is the pattern repeated in many states: an alert law first, mapping requirements layered on afterward.

Beyond these, reporting and state emergency-management sources describe a mix of mandate states and grant-funding states spanning much of the country, including Georgia, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Maryland, and South Carolina among the states that fund mapping through grants. The exact obligations differ by state and change with each session, so the practical takeaway is simple: check your own state's current statute and grant program, and confirm the map specification it requires before you scope the work.

Where a scanning provider fits in the ecosystem

Campus safety mapping has three layers, and it helps to see them separately.

We are the data layer. We produce the verified, statute-compliant map, formatted so the mapping platforms and dispatch software your agencies already run can consume it without buying anything new. Because we capture the campus with a laser scanner, the same visit also yields as-builts, 3D models, and facility documentation your operations team can use. The how it works guide covers the scan-to-map pipeline, and the grant funding guide covers how districts and other organizations pay for it.

Questions administrators actually ask

Does my state require campus mapping?

It depends on the state and it changes often. A dozen or so states either mandate mapping or fund it through grants, and more consider legislation each session. Confirm the current statute and grant program for your state, and check whether the requirement is a panic-alert law, a mapping law, or both.

What exactly does the map have to contain?

Where a state has specified it, the map is oriented true north, overlaid on current aerial imagery, gridded, labeled to match real room and door signage, marked with hazards, utility shutoffs, key boxes, AEDs, and trauma kits, and verified by a physical walk-through. Florida's Section 1013.13 lists all of this explicitly.

How often does it need updating?

In Florida, revised documentation for any modified facility is due by October 1 each year. Other states set their own cycles. We build in an annual re-verification so the map keeps matching the building.

Do you also handle college and university campuses?

Yes. Florida's program explicitly includes Florida College System institution facilities, and higher-education campuses have the same navigation problem at larger scale. We scan and map campuses of any size, nationwide.