School safety funding · nationwide, state by state
Who pays for the glass. Every state, one page.
Security window film is one of the few hardening line items most school-safety programs will fund, because it protects the glass a building already has. 10 states name film or glass in their eligible-use language, 24 more fund physical security generally, and the federal COPS program lists “window film” by name. Pick your state.
New ·Watch the live breach testYour state
Pick a state. See what pays.
Program, agency, what the eligible-use language says, the current amount and cycle, and the source — read from the agency page wherever it was reachable. Texas has its own page on the standards rule and the allotment.
Names film or glassPhysical security / hardeningCheck the current roundNo dedicated state program found
ALAlabamaAKAlaskaAZArizonaARArkansasCACaliforniaCOColoradoCTConnecticutDEDelawareFLFloridaGAGeorgiaHIHawaiiIDIdahoILIllinoisINIndianaIAIowaKSKansasKYKentuckyLALouisianaMEMaineMDMarylandMAMassachusettsMIMichiganMNMinnesotaMSMississippiMOMissouriMTMontanaNENebraskaNVNevadaNHNew HampshireNJNew JerseyNMNew MexicoNYNew YorkNCNorth CarolinaNDNorth DakotaOHOhioOKOklahomaOROregonPAPennsylvaniaRIRhode IslandSCSouth CarolinaSDSouth DakotaTNTennesseeTXTexasUTUtahVTVermontVAVirginiaWAWashingtonWVWest VirginiaWIWisconsinWYWyoming
Unlock the detail
The map is public. The state-by-state detail is for people with a building to protect.
The program and agency for every state, the eligible-use language in the agency’s words, current amounts and cycles, the as-of date and the source link for every state — plus the Texas deep-dive. One form unlocks all 50 in this browser, and a Solutions Advisor follows up with the programs that fit your district.
No fee, no resale of your details. Built for districts and the people who advise them.
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Where an agency’s list uses words Epic does not use for film, the entry is paraphrased and linked; read the agency’s own wording at the source. Epic does not publish breach or delay times and does not describe film as bullet-resistant.
Federal
One federal program names window film. One sends you to it. One is over.
The federal program that names window film
COPS Office — School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)
The U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office program for school physical security. Its FY2026 resource guide lists “Window film/tint,” “Door locking mechanisms/access control doors,” “Entry control equipment” and “Visitor management systems” as allowable costs; construction and renovation are not (fencing excepted).
- Up to $73,000,000 available (FY2026)
- Maximum federal share $500,000; microgrants to $100,000
- At least 25% local cost share (waived for microgrants)
- 36-month period; states, local governments, tribes, public school districts and law-enforcement agencies apply
- FY2026 deadlines: Grants.gov Aug 4, JustGrants Aug 11 (annual cycle)
Program page → · FY26 resource guide (allowable costs) → · FY26 pre-award fact sheet →
Does not fund hardening — it sends you to SVPP
BJA — STOP School Violence Program
Up to $111 million (FY2026) with no match, but for threat assessment, training, reporting systems and prevention — not equipment. The solicitation itself says applicants seeking target-hardening equipment should look to the COPS SVPP program above. Useful for the prevention side of a district’s plan, not the glass.
- Category 1 (states, IHEs) up to $2M; Category 2 (localities, tribes, districts, nonprofits) up to $1M
- No match
- FY2026 deadlines: Grants.gov Oct 30, JustGrants Nov 6
Limited: locks and entry improvements
Bipartisan Safer Communities Act — Stronger Connections Grant
$1 billion sent to state education agencies and sub-granted competitively to high-need districts. Federal guidance allows only “limited infrastructure improvements (e.g., the repair of locks and building entry improvement)” and discourages relying on hardening. Most state rounds ran in 2023–2024 and the money is largely obligated — check your state agency’s RFA before planning on it.
- Allowability is set by each state’s RFA
- Largely obligated as of 2026
Over
ESSER (pandemic relief)
ARP ESSER had to be obligated by September 30, 2024, and the last late-liquidation deadline passed March 28, 2026. There are no new ESSER funds. If a vendor is still quoting “ESSER-eligible,” that is a sign of an out-of-date pitch.
Cooperative purchasing
The grant is the money. The co-op contract is how you buy without an RFP.
A lead public agency runs the competitive solicitation and awards a master contract; member districts buy through it. In Texas, Local Government Code §271.102 says a participating entity “automatically satisfies any requirement to seek competitive bidding,” and most states have an equivalent interlocal statute. Epic holds 21 contracts across 13 purchasing cooperatives, so a district can fund the glass with a grant or allotment and procure it through the contract in the same quarter.
BuyBoard · Texas Association of School Boards
Contracts “have been competitively procured, to assist members with compliance.” Site →
Sourcewell · Minnesota service cooperative
“Conducts competitive solicitations on behalf of eligible government entities.” Site →
Choice Partners · Harris County Department of Education (TX)
“National cooperative purchasing service with legally procured contracts.” Site →
OMNIA Partners · Various lead agencies
“One public lead agency prepares and issues the solicitation… and awards the master agreement.” Site →
TIPS-USA · Region 8 Education Service Center (TX)
Competitively bids contracts on behalf of its members. Site →
Bonds
When the state program is empty, the bond package is where film goes.
Districts fund secure vestibules, door hardware and glazing upgrades through voter-approved bond packages, usually inside a “Safety & Security” category next to cameras and access control. State facility programs — Colorado BEST, New Jersey’s Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, New York’s Smart Schools Bond Act — are state-level bonds that reimburse the same categories.
Two recent examples that named film: Springfield Public Schools (Missouri) applied protective film to about 14,000 ground-floor windows under its 2023 bond, and Tucson Unified (Arizona) outlined window security film for about 15 schools in its January 2026 bond work. If a bond is coming, get the glass scoped before the package is written — a line item with a number behind it survives the committee; “TBD” does not.
Sources: Springfield (news) · Tucson (board summary).
Map the funding for my district
Tell us the state, the district and roughly how many campuses. A Solutions Advisor replies with the programs that apply, the co-op contract that fits, and a scope you can attach to the application.
FAQ
School safety funding — questions
Is security window film an allowable cost under school safety grants?
Under the programs that fund physical hardening, usually yes — and in 10 states the eligible-use language names film or glass directly (Texas, Utah, New York, Minnesota, Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Maryland, Tennessee). In another 24 states the language is “physical security,” “access control” or “hardening,” which covers attached security film in practice; confirm with the program office before you apply. Federally, the COPS School Violence Prevention Program lists “window film/tint” by name.
Which federal grant pays for window film?
The COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP): up to $73 million in FY2026, awards to $500,000 with a 25% local match, and “window film/tint,” “entry control equipment” and “door locking mechanisms” on its allowable list. BJA’s STOP School Violence program does not fund hardening — its own solicitation points equipment applicants to SVPP. ESSER is over.
Do we have to put security film out to bid?
Usually not. Cooperative purchasing contracts were competitively bid by a lead public agency, and a district that joins the cooperative buys through that contract instead of running its own RFP (in Texas, Local Government Code §271.102 says participation “automatically satisfies any requirement to seek competitive bidding”; most states have an equivalent). Epic holds 21 contracts across 13 purchasing cooperatives. The grant is the money; the co-op contract is the procurement vehicle, and they are routinely used together.
My state is not on the list with a program. What do we do?
Three routes still work: the federal SVPP grant (any public district can apply), a cooperative-purchasing contract paid from general facilities or bond funds, and the next capital bond — security film is a line item districts put in “Safety & Security” packages because it hardens the glass they already own. Ask Epic for an opening-by-opening scope and budget number to carry into any of those.
How current is this page?
Every entry carries the date of the source it was read from and a link to the agency page. Programs change every legislative session, so treat the amount and deadline as the starting point and confirm with the agency; Epic’s Solutions Advisors track these programs for the districts they work with and will tell you what has changed.
What does Epic provide for a grant application?
A written scope by opening with the film and attachment specified by name and the standards each is rated to, the cooperative contract and pricing, a project schedule that keeps school in session, the installer qualifications and warranty terms, and the installed-opening record the district will need at closeout. Most applications want exactly those attachments.
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