The U.S. Department of Education is awarding an additional $3.1 million to the Newtown (Conn.) Public School District to help with ongoing recovery efforts over the next two school years as the district continues to recover from the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.
This award, combined with a $1.3 million grant for the 2012-13 school year and a $1.9 million grant for the 2013-14 school year, brings the total awarded to Newtown to more than $6.4 million—one of the largest Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grants ever awarded, according to the Department of Education.
As a result of the tragedy at Sandy Hook, President Obama developed Now Is the Time, an initiative to keep schools and communities safe and to help prevent future tragedies such as the one in Newtown. Since announcing the plan in January 2013, the president and his administration have taken a number of steps to help keep our kids and communities safer, the DOE reported.
The grant is awarded through the Department’s Project SERV program, which awards Immediate Services and Extended Services grants to school districts, colleges and universities that have experienced a significant traumatic event and need resources to respond, recover, and re-establish safe environments for students.
“We are continuing to support Newtown’s recovery efforts,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “This additional grant will assist with ongoing efforts and immediate needs to help the community heal after this terrible tragedy that Americans will never forget.”
The Department’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students administers the Project SERV grant program. It has awarded more than $42 million through 121 grants, including Newtown’s additional grant, since the program began in 2001.
