[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6672262,"mediaKeyId","2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888","parentId",2132046,"title","SafeUT reports surge in tips, readies geofenced alerts and law-enforcement dashboard for next school year","audioSeconds",1025,"startMs",4706000,"endMs",5731000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888&start=4706&end=5731","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888/thumbnail_4706000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6672262/Utah/SafeUT-reports-surge-in-tips-readies-geofenced-alerts-and-law-enforcement-dashboard-for-next-school-year","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6672262-8a68e12361a64c44de429c07bae652ef/orig.mp4?Expires=1770617062&Signature=Xh7ksStWFvlHVZ4PeCqjlXaMSsT4~zj6XlpyExE1OociqCdUvPY5qp3Mt6vutM~habfYmepSGVAJKx07ORXjZQ7UQs25XlA7-mYFnKlzzNz6teIsrOb0xwFRBtTZ68axZmmwgqIzV5FOd63Q5oKfCoiZ12-QC7v7aBrecGAMCe6HDBRDuwYnwi7XEsLfNB60fYCPHu1r01eOtsVuAu0sZQ~~kud60JGDvaUqTmBlQWxPy7R1CDxrlAvdhFYHUYirEIMCFx4J55X-QD5friCWqmIID-FblPENr3JaWhiw1C16HRNqbe9L01hu8T-Wt1ZgwI6pc0JnNKhNdJ-O4Vs7mw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-01-17T00:00:00Z","article","SafeUT operators and partners told the School Security Task Force that the app continues to expand in use and capability and that several major feature upgrades are planned for the coming school year.

Rachel Lisonbee, director of Community Crisis Services at Huntsman Mental Health Institute (which operates SafeUT), reported that in fiscal year 2024 SafeUT handled 26,808 chats and more than 1,000,000 back-and-forth messages. The tip function generated 8,985 submissions; for the first time in SafeUT history, bullying was the top tip category, she said. Lisonbee also reported that 758 tips pertained to potential school threats or active violence and that SafeUT’s December 6 data push to the Statewide Information and Analysis Center (SCIAC) is live; between December 6 and December 31 SafeUT sent 34 tips to SCIAC that met the statutory threshold for threat to life or harm to others.

Lisonbee described a three‑phase enhancement plan for SafeUT:
- Phase 1: Improve user profiles and communication. Users will be able to select multiple profiles (for example, a parent who is also an educator), associate with multiple schools and receive targeted notifications. A new notification center (an in-app inbox) and standardized message templates for schools and law enforcement are part of this phase. Phase 1 features were in final testing at the time of the meeting.
- Phase 2: Location-based notifications. Users will be able to opt in to location services so SafeUT can deliver geofenced alerts to people in an affected area even if they are not associated with that school. SafeUT also plans credentialed, role‑based logins for educators and law enforcement to allow verified partners to send authorized outbound messages during emergencies without exposing confidential counseling chats.
- Phase 3: Emergency protocol and outbound alerts. The app will support verified, attention‑grabbing push notifications issued by credentialed law-enforcement users in the event of an active threat or life‑threatening emergency. Lisonbee stressed that credentialed law-enforcement logins will not provide access to confidential chats; they are for outbound emergency notification only.

Lisonbee told the task force the technical team aims to complete the three phases and make features available in the 2025–26 school year (around August–September 2025). Representative Wilcox and other members urged schools and districts to coordinate with SafeUT staff before signing separate contracts for other vendor products and encouraged continued promotion and adoption of SafeUT.

SafeUT staff and the task force emphasized that SafeUT is intended as a behavioral-health first tool that also serves school-safety objectives by enabling confidential reporting and timely triage of tips that may indicate risk to individuals or to the school community.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","School Security Task Force - January 17, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","SafeUT reported nearly 27,000 chats and more than 8,900 tips in fiscal 2024 and described a three‑phase expansion that adds multiple user profiles, targeted notifications, location-based alerts and a credentialed law‑enforcement dashboard by the 2025–26 school year.","taxTitle","2025 Utah Legislature, Utah Legislature, Utah Legislative Branch, Utah","taxId",78171,"location","Utah","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6672265,"Task force hears cybersecurity warnings for K–12 systems; UETN and vendors urge basic protections and statewide coordination",1782,2918000,4700000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888&start=2918&end=4700","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888/thumbnail_2918000.jpg","/articles/6672265/Utah/Task-force-hears-cybersecurity-warnings-for-K12-systems-UETN-and-vendors-urge-basic-protections-and-statewide-coordination","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6672265-b49fcb935e2608fd2437191d059cd831/orig.mp4?Expires=1770617062&Signature=OtcYkDFO0pBOk38dh~6Up3mC3YQXP01toZXwLwGDqjShtgsb~z0OKE9QMreGHtggBa9QMFQqrAGqtOJ-2Ux5FLaG-rx9gjcfD6rcd5L58of5KcjEzpPXg1zVh4IjO2KAZBPnJHuTe5FEpQkNaFJKkjjP6qO3v70qSgAdi0SYhZn~yc9QIRFSCiXWdSmD~kunbVRHTmJ3VIp51F1K2hIi5~RR~rLBckxUQX5jekPVTMxawtt3I9pVFzGSltNdYXByOa~31EBLogGNLgoQPynSbht60hBA3kDzw5S1d8m9xUNn3OY5~EBO65nIAbNLGofXliLbjq-dzAWNN3FrRCHGCw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Officials from cybersecurity vendors and the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN) briefed the Utah School Security Task Force on active digital threats to school systems and recommended baseline protections and state-level coordination.

Kevin Lopez, representing Fortinet, described a string of recent breaches affecting companies that provide services to schools. Lopez said many breaches could have been blocked or mitigated with relatively basic protections such as multifactor authentication (MFA), endpoint detection and a zero‑trust approach that limits access to only the applications a given user needs. He told the task force that MFA can reduce the risk of account compromise by up to 99% (industry estimates), and he outlined vendor‑management steps such as contractual security requirements (SOC 2, NIST standards, FedRAMP for cloud services) and requiring risk‑assessment reports from vendors.

Spencer Jenkins, with the Utah Education and Telehealth Network, explained UETN’s role as the statewide education network and described incidents where UETN detected anomalous traffic — for example, a distributed denial‑of‑service attack against a school hosting an esports event — and was able to work with the local district to mitigate the attack. Jenkins said UETN is commissioning a statewide security posture assessment across K–12 and higher education to identify gaps and inform potential managed services; UETN said a report and recommendations are forthcoming.

Representative Ryan D. Wilcox, chair, told members he has tracked recent compromises and said that, “last week, 170,000 records that I’m aware of” of student data were compromised. The task force also learned that the legislative auditor has commenced an audit into school cybersecurity; Jenkins confirmed the audit began the same morning and said that the results should help guide state planning.

Task force members and presenters highlighted several near‑term best practices:
- Implement multifactor authentication on education systems that hold student or staff data.
- Deploy endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools on devices that access school data.
- Build a zero‑trust network access model and use role‑based privileged access management to limit who can change critical systems.
- Hold vendors to security standards in contracts (SOC 2, NIST guidance, FedRAMP where applicable) and request vendor risk assessments.
- Consider statewide managed services or shared detection platforms so districts that lack IT staff can benefit from centralized monitoring and incident response.

Jenkins said UETN and other partners will pursue funding and federal opportunities to support statewide services, and he recommended the task force treat cybersecurity as part of overall school safety planning.

Members asked for basic cybersecurity standards to be included in the task force’s work and for continued coordination between UETN, the Division of Technology Services and local districts.","Vendor and network officials warned the task force that students' data and K–12 systems in Utah face active threats; presenters recommended multifactor authentication, endpoint detection, zero‑trust frameworks, vendor accountability and a coordinated state approach.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6672269,"Task force approves funds and procurement for school safety after statewide needs assessments",1631,64000,1695000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888&start=64&end=1695","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2132046-2cacfbebe40a933f1e0b266246ade888/thumbnail_64000.jpg","/articles/6672269/Utah/Task-force-approves-funds-and-procurement-for-school-safety-after-statewide-needs-assessments","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6672269-3e687a96b5eaddad0ff24b48a76d782d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770617062&Signature=YLKMP5oKB7qHWPTtk0sK27w7BppLdKWNlXFqmFf~oZk0YNV5DlItzFwm-nl37jppXk-fVceBfhCaPBaWWXZ1CRoIA4fHWWJBcIagr-cTCXjYEhSb3c8fDht06sb7oWesHOYDTecgBT4XiosXGizNWOBkhXiFNlTCmqbn~fpaXmipzhRsmd6226CDKFWFngPSF7sq3ipNo3FooiPtTgUXnKcQCH1erpXDbTo4JOt2RAoQzvTT2DEjTwr~fbIjaBojZNLfFrI45tPWUSFxQ~ATICYtO8doJ2MgEPvzBgIwxwopJPA7smpcy91zSoCq9SRXArg~IMc-pCpchAtDz3YUsw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Utah School Security Task Force voted to authorize immediate purchases and near-term work to address gaps identified in school safety needs assessments and to fund completion of a school safety dashboard.

Representative Ryan D. Wilcox, chair of the task force, opened discussion by noting that the needs-assessment requirement stems from earlier legislation and that the group had initial results to use for prioritizing grants. Micah Wicksen, legislative research and general counsel, summarized recent appropriations: the Legislature previously established a $72,000,000 grant program under HB 61 and last year’s HB 84 appropriated roughly $100,000,000 for school security grants. Wicksen said that HB 84 divides new funding into two buckets — about $50,000,000 for general grants the task force can prioritize statewide and about $48,000,000 for targeted grants to specific local education agencies — and reminded members that districts generally have until the end of 2026 to spend earlier award funds.

Chantelle Cota, director of school safety and student services at the Utah State Board of Education, told the task force that 100% of Utah schools submitted the school safety needs assessment. Cota described the nine minimum standards laid out in HB 84 (limited entry points, video surveillance, ground-level window protections, internal door locks, bleed kits and first-aid kits, exterior entrance cameras, playground fencing and panic-alert devices) and said many schools are in the “mid range” of meeting four to five standards. She said priorities identified for immediate grant funding include bleed kits and first-aid kits and that panic-alert devices remain a focus.

On formal actions, the task force approved three motions during the meeting:
- A motion to authorize $1,500,000 in matching funds from the HB 84 general-grants appropriation to the Utah State Board of Education to complete the school safety dashboard. Representative Wilcox moved the motion; members approved it by voice vote.
- A motion by Senator Milner directing the task force to use funds from the general-grants appropriation to supply first-aid kits and bleed kits to public schools and to request that the State Board of Education and the state security chief begin the procurement process for those items. The motion as placed authorized procurement and asked for a report back to the grant subcommittee and the task force; members approved the motion by voice vote.
- A motion to use general-grants appropriation funds to supply physical panic-alert devices (the “Alyssa’s Law” functionality referenced by members) to public schools and to request that the State Board of Education and the state security chief start procurement and standards development for those devices. The motion specified work on implementation standards and a limited vendor/implementation approach to avoid the interoperability/PSAP problems seen in other states; it was approved by voice vote.

Task force members discussed implementation details and limits of authority. Chief Huntington and other members raised that bleed-kit distribution may require associated training; the task force directed that initial procurement focus on equipment while leaving open future consideration of funding for training and coordination with school nurses and EMS. Senator Milner and others said procurement plans should consider cost-sharing or reimbursements when districts already have items or private partners offer donations, and the grant subcommittee will review cost‑effective delivery models before broader disbursement.

On the school safety dashboard, Cota said the Utah State Board of Education previously allocated $1,500,000 of discretionary funding toward development; the task force approved an additional $1,500,000 to complete the project after a separate federal grant application was unsuccessful. The dashboard is intended to live in the state parent portal and to include data such as disciplinary actions, minors found in possession of dangerous weapons, and law-enforcement actions; Cota and the board said they are coordinating a procurement and technical design. Representative Wilcox said the intent is to move the dashboard work quickly so schools benefit in the coming school year.

The task force also discussed grant prioritization: the $50,000,000 general grant pot can be used to purchase items for statewide deployment (for example, guardian identifiers), while the targeted $48,000,000 pot will fund district‑specific needs informed by the needs assessments.

The meeting record shows voice votes and no recorded oppositions for the motions above. Members asked that the State Board of Education and the state security chief report procurement approaches and cost models back to the grant subcommittee and the full task force before widespread disbursement.

The task force will use its grant subcommittee and the needs-assessment results to target purchases and to consider subsequent requests for training funding and other supports identified by districts.","The Utah School Security Task Force, citing results from statewide school safety needs assessments required under HB 84, approved funding and authorized procurement for a school safety dashboard, first-aid/bleed kits and panic-alert devices.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

SafeUT reports surge in tips, readies geofenced alerts and law-enforcement dashboard for next school year

Task force hears cybersecurity warnings for K–12 systems; UETN and vendors urge basic protections and statewide coordination

Task force approves funds and procurement for school safety after statewide needs assessments