CC EXCLUSIVE: Funding School Safety Measures
by Jennifer Williams
Every community, superintendent and principal aims to keep students and teachers safe in school, but are then faced with the issue of paying for the equipment, personnel and technology to do so.
Billions of dollars are available through public and private grants and gifts—and millions of those dollars go unused each year.
The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of 2022 authorized $1 billion in formula funding to state educational agencies to provide students with safer and healthier learning environments. And the COVID-relief-related Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) allocated more than $190 billion for use in schools across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
No state had spent more than half of their designated ESSER funding by June 30, 2022. Hawaii spent the most, at 46 percent, while Vermont and Wisconsin spent the least, at 16 percent. Thirty-four states spent 30 percent or less by that time. States were given a three-year deadline to spend their money, and that deadline (September 2022-2024) depends on when each state received the funding.
So where to find these funding sources?
A great first step can be found at www.schoolsafety.gov/grants-finder-tool, which not only offers a quiz to filter by safety topic (including bullying, targeted violence, mental health), award amount and even level of application effort, but also provides quick links for commonly searched-for filter categories. These school safety-specific grants are continually updated as agencies release funding opportunities and grants throughout the year.
The site also offers a State Search Tool to help locate resources and contacts from federal and local agencies in each state.
Many private organizations and non-profits also offer grants and gifts to help pay for school safety tools and programs. Private finding streams may take a bit more research to find, but often come with fewer regulations and a more rapid award timeframe. Internet searches to find private funding in your state and community is one way to find these opportunities—which also usually have fewer applicants competing for the awards.
Disclaimer:
Many school administrators say they are not surprised at the low percentage of federal funds being used, explaining that many systems are hesitant to accept the federal money and grants because of all the red tape and conditions attached to taking them. More to come on this.