Status: Enacted — Effective September 1, 2025. SB 260 was signed into law during the 89th Texas Legislature (Regular Session) and reorganized in HB 2 as Section 48.160 of the Education Code. The expanded school safety allotment is now in effect for the 2025-2026 school year.

Bill Number: Texas SB 260 (89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025); modified by HB 2 (school finance omnibus)

Jurisdiction: Texas

Category: School Safety Funding (Permissive)

Industries: K-12 Public Education, Charter Schools

Enacted Date: Signed by Governor Greg Abbott during the 89th Legislative Session

Effective Date: September 1, 2025

Summary: Texas SB 260 substantially increased the dedicated School Safety Allotment under the Foundation School Program, raising the per-student funding component from $10 to $20 per student in Average Daily Attendance (ADA) and the per-campus base from $15,000 to $33,540 per campus. HB 2 (the 89th Legislature's school finance omnibus) further indexed the per-student amount to a floor of $21.10 per ADA, with an additional $1 per ADA for every $50 by which a district's maximum Basic Allotment exceeds $6,160. HB 2 also transferred the allotment from Subchapter C to Subchapter D of Chapter 48 of the Education Code, redesignating it as Section 48.160.

The allotment is one of the most flexible school safety funding streams in the country. Districts may spend allotment dollars on the full continuum of physical security infrastructure: armed security personnel, school resource officers, perimeter fencing, door reinforcement, vestibule construction, camera systems, AI-powered weapons detection, panic alert systems compliant with the state's school safety standards, threat assessment programs, mental health support, and emergency operations planning. Allotment use is governed by the Texas School Safety Standards adopted by the Commissioner of Education and overseen by the Texas School Safety Center.

Key Provisions:

Per-Student Allotment: $20 per student in ADA (up from $10), with HB 2 setting a floor at $21.10 and indexing upward with Basic Allotment growth.
Per-Campus Allotment: $33,540 per campus (up from $15,000), providing a stable base for small and rural districts where per-ADA dollars alone are insufficient.
Permitted Uses: Security personnel; security infrastructure (cameras, access control, fencing, door hardware, vestibules); panic alert technology; AI-powered detection systems; threat assessment teams; behavioral health programs; emergency operations planning.
Compliance Framework: Expenditures must support compliance with the Texas School Safety Standards and reporting obligations to the Texas School Safety Center.
Statutory Location: Now codified at Texas Education Code § 48.160 (redesignated under HB 2).

Affected Entities: All Texas public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools eligible for Foundation School Program funding. The allotment automatically scales with enrollment, providing larger absolute dollars to large urban and suburban districts while the per-campus base provides meaningful uplift to small and rural districts.

Funding Magnitude: At $21.10 per ADA across approximately 5.5 million Texas public school students, plus $33,540 per campus across roughly 9,000 campuses, the allotment represents one of the largest dedicated state-level school safety funding streams in the United States. The increase from FY2024-2025 to FY2025-2026 conservatively exceeds $200 million in new annual school safety capacity statewide.

IntelliSee Relevance: High. SB 260 / HB 2 funding is explicitly available for AI-powered security technology deployments in Texas K-12 districts. IntelliSee's AI weapon detection, fall and aggressive-behavior detection, and unauthorized-access monitoring map directly to the allotment's permitted uses. Texas districts evaluating AI video analytics platforms in 2026 should:

Confirm the platform is consistent with the Texas School Safety Standards adopted by the Commissioner of Education;
Document the deployment within the district's School Safety and Security Committee plan;
Allocate per-student and per-campus allotment dollars to multi-year subscription costs rather than one-time hardware spend, taking advantage of the recurring funding stream;
Consider IntelliSee's privacy-preserving architecture (no facial recognition, no biometric template persistence) to remain aligned with parent communication and student privacy expectations.

The funding is also stackable with the federal STOP School Violence Act grants administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and with the Texas Education Agency's Safety and Facilities Enhancement (SAFE) Grant for capital improvements.

Texas School Safety Allotment Increase (SB 260 / HB 2, 89th Legislature, 2025)

Related Legislation & Resources

Turn Legislative Mandates Into a Working Safety Program