A new grant will soon help taxpayer-funded districts across Texas cover the costs related to school safety requirements.
The Texas Education Agency recently opened up the Safety and Facilities Enhancement (SAFE) Grant. The deadline for public school systems looking to benefit from the funds was January 15. Districts demonstrating financial need can use a SAFE Grant to pay for various security measures, such as hiring armed security guards.
This fall, a new state law requiring campuses to have at least one armed peace officer came into effect, as previously covered in The Dallas Express. Some districts, such as the Dallas Independent School District, struggled to achieve compliance with the law due to hiring and funding constraints and requested an exemption. DISD was short around 167 officers at the start of the academic year despite having a $2.5 billion budget.
Budget woes have been common among public school systems. Confronted with budget deficits, some, such as Richardson ISD, have been considering money-saving ventures ranging from school closures to attendance zone expansions, as covered in The Dallas Express.
While it may only be a short-term solution, being able to dip into the $800 million approved during the 88th Texas Legislative Session to help districts boost school safety through these SAFE grants comes as a relief for many district officials.
“Any additional funding is always a good thing, particularly in a deficit year budget when we have unfunded or underfunded mandates. Clearly, this kind of grant would be used to help with those,“ said Dr. Julie Harlin, president of the board of trustees at Bryan ISD, according to KBTX.
Although Bryan ISD’s assistant superintendent for business services, Kevin Beesaw, projects that the district will receive approximately $2 million through the SAFE grant, he said that it will not be enough to cover the costs of bringing the district into state compliance. He has been seeking out other funding possibilities.
