AI Frontier Institute

School safety video analytics grant program established, report required, and money appropriated.

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Minnesota H.F. No. 4799 has not been enacted. It was introduced April 7, 2026 and referred to the House Education Finance Committee. If enacted, it would create a voluntary school safety video analytics grant program (proposed Minnesota Statutes, section 123B.573). The program would help school districts, charter schools, and nonpublic schools buy and run AI-based video analytics software on their existing cameras (Subd. 1). Grants could cover acquisition, licensing, implementation, training, and maintenance. Eligible uses include early threat detection, monitoring of unauthorized access, real-time alerts to school officials and first responders, and reducing manual monitoring by staff (Subd. 2(a)). Grants could not buy new camera hardware except where needed to integrate with existing systems (Subd. 2(b)). Participation is voluntary, and schools keep local control over implementation, configuration, and policies (Subd. 3). Privacy safeguards (Subd. 4) would require compliance with chapter 13 and FERPA (20 U.S.C. 1232g). Systems would need privacy-protective features such as facial image masking by default. Any facial recognition would be limited to narrowly defined, high-risk watch lists set by written local policy. Data could be used only for school safety and operational purposes, not for general surveillance or for student discipline unrelated to safety. The commissioner would set the application process and give priority to applicants that use existing cameras, show a documented safety need, plan staff training and incident response, and evaluate outcomes over time, including how effective the AI tools are (Subd. 5(b)). The commissioner must award at least three grants each to public and nonpublic schools inside the seven-county metropolitan area and outside it (Subd. 5(c)). Annual reports to the legislature would begin January 15, 2027 (Subd. 6). Section 2 appropriates general fund money to the Department of Education for fiscal year 2027, with the amount left blank. It requires prorating awards if applications exceed funds and allows a blank amount for administration. The program would take effect July 1, 2026.

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