WASHINGTON – U.S. Representative Mike Bost (IL-12) today announced that applications for up to $500,000 in federal school safety grants would be accepted through May 31st. The COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) grants were created through Bost’s bipartisan legislation, the Securing Our Schools Act, which was signed into law in March 2018. Ninety-one school districts were awarded grants last year, including seven in Illinois.
“As a father and a grandfather, I know the importance of ensuring our children have a safe environment to grow and learn,” said Bost. “This grant program provides funds for schools to purchase life-saving technology to deter threats and to immediately contact first responders when incidents take place. We have advanced safety technology in banks, office buildings, and retail locations, there is no reason we shouldn’t have this technology at our schools to protect our children.”
Background:
SVPP is a competitive award program designed to provide funding to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the grantees’ jurisdictions through evidence-based school safety programs. $25 million is available through this year’s COPS SVPP.
The program provides funding directly to states, units of local government, and Indian tribes to be used to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the grantees’ jurisdictions through evidence-based school safety programs that may include one or more of the following:
- Coordination with local law enforcement
- Training for local law enforcement officers to prevent school violence against others and self
- Placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures
- Acquisition and installation of technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency
- Any other measure that, in the determination of the director of the COPS Office, may provide a significant improvement in security
Click HERE for more information on the 2019 School Violence Prevention Program.
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