Secretary DeVos Announces $1 Million Initial Recovery Grant to Santa Fe Independent School District

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos today announced that the Department’s Office of Safe and Healthy Students (OSHS) has awarded Santa Fe Independent School District a Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant totaling $1 million. The grant will help with recovery efforts following the tragic shootings at Santa Fe High School in Texas, on May 18, 2018.

“No student, parent or educator should have to experience the trauma suffered by so many at Santa Fe High School and other schools throughout the country,” said Secretary DeVos. This initial SERV grant will help to provide essential services that will aid in the healing and recovery process. Every day, the work of the Federal Commission on School Safety grows more urgent. We continue to focus on identifying proven ways to prevent violence and keep our students safe at school.

The Department’s Project SERV grants provide critical funding for school districts, colleges and universities that have experienced significant traumatic events and need resources to respond, recover and re-establish safe environments for students. There are two types of Project SERV awards—Immediate Services and Extended Services. Immediate Services grants provide emergency, short-term assistance to affected school districts or colleges and universities. Extended Services grants assist school districts and colleges and universities in carrying out the long-term recovery efforts that may be needed following a significant, traumatic event. Santa Fe Independent School District received an Immediate Services grant.

Secretary DeVos and Department officials are in frequent contact with state and local education leaders in Texas as they assess their needs in the wake of this tragedy.

Featured

  • sapling sprouting from a cracked stone

    Lessons in Resilience: Disaster Recovery in Our Schools

    Facility managers play a pivotal role in how well a school weathers and recovers from a crisis. Whether it's a hurricane, a flood, a tornado, or a man-made event, preparation determines resilience.

  • Preparing for the Next Era of Healthcare Education, Innovation

    Across the country, public universities and community colleges are accelerating investments in healthcare education facilities as part of a broader strategy to address workforce shortages, modernize outdated infrastructure, and expand clinical training capacity. These projects, which are often located at the center of campus health and science districts, are no longer limited to traditional classrooms.

  • Different Starting Points, Same End Goal

    Higher education campuses can enhance student experience by implementing mobile credentials to streamline building access, on-campus payments, and access to other amenities. This enables students to connect to their campuses through the technology they use most: their mobile devices.

  • El Paso District Breaks Ground on New Elementary School

    The Canutillo Independent School District in El Paso, Texas, recently announced that construction has begun on a 119,000-square-foot elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with Pfluger Architects, Carl Daniel Architects, and LDCM Solutions on the new Davenport Elementary School, which has an expected completion date of 2027.

Digital Edition