Virginia School Safety
Mapping Requirements

Va. Code §22.1-279.8 requires every public school to conduct an annual school safety audit with the local chief law enforcement officer and requires school boards to create and certify a detailed, accurate floor plan for each school building. Separately, the DCJS Digital Mapping Program funds Collaborative Response Graphics (CRGs) — digital maps that opt-in schools share with first responders. The floor-plan requirement is the mandate; the CRG program is the grant-funded layer built on top of it.

The Digital Mapping Program for Virginia K-12 Schools, launched by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) in 2022, funds Collaborative Response Graphics (CRGs) for public schools. CRGs pair a MACRO campus overview with Micro building-level maps built on GeoRelevant Integrated Floor Plans, and are shared with local and state first responders. The program is backed by $6.5 million, reimburses up to $3,500 per school mapped, and produces NG9-1-1- and CAD-compatible maps through DCJS-approved vendors.

Virginia has committed $6.5 million to the DCJS K-12 Digital Mapping Program, with approximately $3.33 million approved to date. The program reimburses up to $3,500 per school mapped, per division. This is state funding — federal STOP School Violence Act and COPS grants fund training and prevention but do not cover physical mapping or 3D scanning services. Professional 3D laser scanning for a school building typically runs $10,000-$20,000 at $0.20-$0.70 per square foot, so the grant offsets a meaningful share of documentation costs.

Yes. Virginia enacted its version of Alyssa's Law through HB 592, signed on April 2, 2026. Notably, the Virginia law permits — but does not mandate — mobile panic alert systems connected to emergency services. Panic alerts and school mapping are separate tracks: panic alarms handle emergency notification, while mapping data (the §22.1-279.8 floor plans and DCJS CRGs) gives responders the building intelligence to plan their response. Our Alyssa's Law overview at /schools/alyssas-law/ explains how these requirements interact across states.

Under the DCJS Digital Mapping Program, school maps take the form of Collaborative Response Graphics (CRGs): a MACRO campus overview plus Micro building-level maps built on GeoRelevant Integrated Floor Plans. They must be NG9-1-1- and CAD-compatible for public-safety dispatch, include emergency-asset and campus-layout labeling, and be shared with local and state first responders. CRGs are produced by DCJS-approved vendors. The underlying §22.1-279.8 floor plans must be detailed, accurate, and certified for each building.

Virginia requires certified, accurate floor plans and CRGs that are field-verified and NG9-1-1/CAD-compatible. 3D laser scanning with equipment like the Trimble X12 (±2mm at 20m) physically captures every room, door, corridor, and safety asset during the scan — this IS the field verification. The resulting registered point clouds (E57, RCP, LAS, LAZ), 360° panoramas, and PDF measurement reports import into the CAD, GIS, and 911 dispatch software that DCJS-approved vendors use to build CRGs. THE FUTURE 3D supplies the survey-grade scan data; we do not issue the final agency CAD file.

Professional 3D laser scanning for school safety documentation costs $0.20-$0.70 per square foot, with a $1,000 minimum project. For a standard 50,000 sqft Virginia school building, expect roughly $10,000-$20,000 depending on detail level. Matterport virtual tours for schools start at $1,500 per building, with hosting at $20/month or a free file transfer. Virginia's DCJS grant reimburses up to $3,500 per school mapped. Volume discounts apply for division-wide programs.

Yes. A single site visit produces both safety documentation (3D laser scan data for first responders and CRG vendors) and enrollment marketing assets (an interactive Matterport 3D virtual tour). The laser scan captures point-cloud data used to build the required floor plans and CRGs, while the Matterport tour goes on the school website for prospective families. Two deliverables from one visit stretches the value of the DCJS mapping grant.

Va. Code §22.1-279.8 requires an annual school safety audit, and school boards must keep a detailed, accurate floor plan certified for each building. Documentation should be refreshed whenever renovations, additions, or layout changes occur. For annual cycles, targeted re-scanning of only the modified areas is far more cost-effective than a full re-scan — THE FUTURE 3D can set up a program where an initial comprehensive scan is followed by focused annual updates, keeping ongoing compliance affordable.

Yes. THE FUTURE 3D provides professional 3D laser scanning nationwide, including Virginia, coordinated from our New York office at 322 W 52nd St serving the broader East Coast and mid-Atlantic corridor. We are a New York City DOE Approved Vendor (#THE770638) with experience at 20+ NYC DOE schools, a registered Miami-Dade County Public Schools vendor, and have served schools for 5+ years. Our equipment — Trimble X12 (±2mm at 20m), NavVis VLX3, and Matterport Pro3 — produces deliverables meeting the technical standards behind Virginia's CRGs. We typically respond to inquiries within one hour.