department of justice

Florida Schools to Receive Millions in Safety Grants from Justice Department

The Department of Justice awarded more than $85.3 million in safety grants to bolster school security—including funding to educate and train students and faculty—and support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident.

  • By Sherelle Black
  • October 24, 2019
The U.S. Department of Justice is shelling out millions of dollars in safety grants in an effort to educate and train students, school staff and first responders on how to prevent and react to school threats and violence.

“These federal resources will help to prevent school violence and give our students the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive,’ said Attorney General William P. Barr in a press release. “By training faculty, students and first responders, and by improving school security measures, we can make schools and their communities safer.”

Central Florida school districts will be receiving $4.1 million in grants, reported the Osceola News-Gazette.

“We must protect our children and stop the scourge of violence in schools,” stated U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan for the Southern District of Florida in a press release. “The millions of dollars in grant money that is being awarded to South Florida schools will help us to identify the threats, encourage reporting of potential dangers, provide critical health services and enhance school safety. We are grateful to the Department for providing the Palm Beach County School District, Broward Sheriff’s Office, the School Boards of Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Police Department, and countless other deserving communities with the resources needed to help support and protect our youth.”

After the Parkland shooting happened in 2018, a federal grant program was created, which the money for the safety grants are now being distributed through.

The grants can be used to buy metal detectors, locks and other deterrent measures; training officials on how to react when mentally ill individuals threaten safety; improving notification to first responders and developing school threat assessment teams amongst other safety improvements.

About the Author

Sherelle Black is a Content Editor for the Infrastructure Solutions Group at 1105 Media.

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