US Department of Education Awards $8 Million in Project SERV Grants to Hurricane-Impacted States, Territories
WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced today
the Department of Education has awarded the Texas Education Agency a $2.0 million Project School Emergency
Response to Violence (SERV) grant and plans to award $2.0 million SERV grants
to the Florida, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Departments of
Education.
“The victims of these hurricanes remain in our constant thoughts and prayers,
but as I continue to visit the many impacted schools, I am heartened and in awe
of those who are working around the clock to ensure our nation’s children are
able to get back to class as quickly as possible,” said Secretary DeVos.
“While Project SERV grants are but a small part of this Administration’s
overall recovery and rebuilding efforts, they provide much-needed funds to help
schools become operational again. As these funds are distributed, the
Department of Education will remain a partner in the long road to recovery
ahead.”
Project SERV funds can be used by
local education agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to
help them recover from violent or traumatic events in which the learning
environment has been disrupted. The Project SERV grants will complement
Federal, state and local recovery efforts to restore the learning environment.
The following are types of services allowable under Project SERV:
- Targeted mental health assessments, referrals and services
related to the traumatic event with the goal of restoring victims/survivors to their pre-incident levels of functioning
- Overtime for teachers, counselors, law enforcement and security
officers and other staff
- Substitute teachers and other staff as necessary
- Emergency transportation
- Technical assistance on developing an appropriate response to
crisis
- Transportation and other costs to operate school at an alternative
site
- Temporary security measures
To date, the Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded
approximately $49.7 million to 148 grantees since the grants program began in
2001.
To view a list of Project SERV grantees and award amounts, or to
learn more about the program, visit http://www2.ed.gov/programs/dvppserv/index.html.
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