School Safety Funding 2019

As a former educator, the mother of a teacher, and grandmother of a young boy in school, school safety is a constant worry in the back of my mind. Kate Brown once said, “Any threat to the health and safety of a child in any school or classroom is unacceptable” and I could not agree more. Unfortunately, as of October 4, 2018, there had already been 65 school shootings this year in the United States -- that’s right, there have been more school shootings than there are weeks in a year, and the year is not over.

Our children and grandchildren may no longer be safe at school, and as grant professionals, we must do what we can to improve safety in schools. 2019 is almost here, and children need us more than ever to get the proper grant funding to keep them safe while they are at school. Let’s make it our New Year’s resolution to help end school violence.

The new STOP School Violence Act of 2018 and its programs were discussed during a Leveraging Partnerships for Campus Safety session at the 2018 Grant Professionals Association annual conference in Chicago. The legislation makes 100 million dollars available each year until 2028, and focuses on three programs:

• Prevention and Mental Health Training
• Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting
• School Violence Prevention

Eligibility for all three programs is limited to states, units of local government and Native American tribes. The School Violence Prevention program provides funding for school safety measures including:

• Coordination with law enforcement
• Training to recognize and prevent events of student violence
• Installation of deterrent measures
• Purchase of technology for expedited notification of law enforcement during an emergency
• Other measures determined to provide a significant improvement in security

The Bureau of Justice Assistance will also have 5 school violence grants available that total 75 million dollars in 2019:

• STOP School Violence Prevention Training and Response to Mental Health Crisis Program
• STOP Violence Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program
• Supporting Innovation: Field-Initiated Programs to Improve Officer and Public Safety
• Supporting Innovation: Field-Initiated Programs to Improve Officer and Public Safety: Category 1
• Supporting Innovation: Field-Initiated Programs to Improve Officer and Public Safety: Category 2

Currently, Texas K-12 schools can currently apply for a Justice Assistance Grant, and there’s a list on the state’s grants website.

There are also many private funders that care about education and school safety. Here are some examples of funds that support school safety initiatives:

• Motorola Solutions has teamed up with EducationGrantsHelp.com to help schools get grant funding for their school safety products. A great option for schools is a school-based radio system to connect directly and securely with the radios used by first responders created by Motorola Solutions and SchoolSAFE. SchoolSAFE Certified Ready school personnel are instantly connected to community police, fire, EMS and 9-1-1 call centers for reliable, secure, two-way communication during a crisis. This product can shave minutes off response time with better communication, which can mean the difference between life and death for students or school personnel.
• State Farm helps to build safer, stronger and better educated communities across the United States by providing Good Neighbor Citizen Grants. The issues of community safety have received unprecedented attention in the wake of school shootings such as at Sandy Hook Elementary, Virginia Tech and hurricanes such as Katrina and Sandy. As these diverse yet equally exigent disasters unfold, the State Farm Youth Advisory Board recognizes the importance of keeping our communities safe from natural disasters, social issues and acts of violence. Educational institutions are eligible for these grants that focus on safety, education and community development.
• Target has a public safety grant eligible for public schools. This grant covers specialized investigative police equipment such as digital cameras, forensic items, youth programs such as PAL or Police Explorers, and crime prevention programs such as vehicle theft prevention or neighborhood watch.

The Cisco Foundation, Lisa and Douglas Goldman Fund, Aetna Foundation and Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation also provide funding.

While school violence prevention grants are preferred, the U.S. Department of Education’s Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) provides funds to help local education agencies or institutions of higher education to recover from a violent or traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted. Application information is available on Ed.gov.