CONCORD — The New Hampshire Department of Education is pleased to announce that, starting today, public and non-public schools may begin submitting grant applications for school security projects using the process put into place for the Public School Infrastructure Fund.

“School security is at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Offering this new pool of funding for the implementation of crucial school security projects underscores the ongoing commitment to help ensure the security of New Hampshire children,” said Frank Edelblut, education commissioner. “Grants will be awarded based on three major security risks and corresponding safety priorities for schools – surveillance, access control and emergency alerting.”

The Security Action for Education (SAFE) grant application window will remain open from July 5 until Aug. 26. The SAFE awards will be distributed in two allotments:

Early decision awards will be granted to a portion of applicants that apply by 11:59 p.m. on July 22. All of the applications will be scored, and a total of $3.3 million in grants will be awarded to public schools in the early decision phase.

Applicants that do not receive an early decision award will automatically be considered for the second allotment of funds, which is an additional $10 million and available to both public and non-public schools. Applications for this round must be received by 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 26.

“The quick implementation of a process to award these grants shows residents of New Hampshire that school safety is a top priority,” said Jennifer Harper, director of the New Hampshire Department of Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. “With these grants, schools will be able to put important safety initiatives into place to ensure that the children and staff members remain safe.”

For both allotments, projects that address the highest priority security risks will be prioritized for grant awards. Grant applications will be submitted for each eligible project, and schools may submit more than one project per school. The maximum award for any one school will be $100,000. Funding is available from the American Rescue Plan Act State Fiscal Recovery Fund (through the Governor’s Office for Emergency Relief and Recovery), and will be distributed to schools using the Public School Infrastructure Fund process.

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