HB 933

This bill requires t he department of education to establish and administer a three-year artificial intelligence weapon s detection system grant pilot program to award grants to eligible LEAs for the purchase of artificial intelligence weapons detection systems for each school managed and controlled by the eligible LEA's local board of education that does not have such a sy stem. As used in this bill , "eligible LEA"" means an LEA, excluding the achievement school district (ASD), (i) with 10 or more schools i dentified as priority schools in 2015; a mong the bottom 10% of schools in 2017 ; i dentified as priority schools in 2018; and i dentified as priority schools in 2021; and (ii) t hat experienced a loss of student life in the 2024-2025 school year due to gun violence occurring on the grounds of a school managed and controlled by the LEA's local board of education. This bill req uires each artificial intelligence weapons detection system purchased for purposes of this bill to be capable of identifying weapons, including knives and firearms, on school grounds and immediately notifying law enforcement and school administration of th e presence of a weapon on school grounds upon its detection by the system. Subject to appropriations, this bill requires the department to allocate and disburse grants to eligible LEAs each year of the pilot program. If, in any year of the pilot program, all public schools managed and controlled by the local board of education for each eligible LEA have an artificial intelligence weapons detection system, then the department must disburse any remaining grant funds to eligible LEAs for other school securi ty purchases, projects, or measures approved by the department. The department must determine the amount of each grant awarded pursuant to this bill but the department must disburse 100% of the funds appropriated for the pilot program each year in grants to all eligible LEAs. This bill provides that t he pilot program begins with the 2025-2026 school year and ends on July 31, 2028. By July 31, 2026, and by each July 31 thereafter until the pilot program terminates, the department must submit a report to the general assembly identifying the number of schools managed and controlled by each eligible LEA's local board of education that received a grant in the immediately preceding school year, the number of artificial intelligence weapons detection systems p u rchased, and the number of schools in the eligible LEA that do not have an artificial intelligence weapons detection system."