

School Safety Legislation & Grant Funding
Michigan House Bill No. 6012 Part 97d is a bipartisan bill that makes a historic investment in school safety. Senate Bill No. 173, Public Act 103 of 2023, Section 31aa, allocates funding for the 2022-2023 school year to improve student mental health and safety.
Under the act, Michigan schools are eligible for funding to implement a secure platform for school officials, emergency responders, and emergency management coordinators to house all school safety-related items, including emergency operations plan (EOP) templates, EOP guidance, reference documents, and security assessments. Recipients must also plan to use at least 50% of funds awarded on activities related to improving student mental health.
Allowable expenditures under this program include:
Purchasing and implementing mental health screening tools – Learn About nSide|Assess
Safety infrastructure, including, but not limited to, cameras, door blocks, hardened vestibules, window screening, and technology necessary to operate buzzer systems. This may also include firearm detection software that integrates to existing security cameras to detect and alert school personnel and first responders to visible firearms on school property. The software described in the immediately preceding sentence must be organically developed and proprietary to the company it is purchased from and should not include any third-party or open-source data – Learn About nSide|Live & nSide|Edge
A secure platform, administered by the department of state police, for school officials, emergency responders, and emergency management coordinators to house all school safety-related items, including, but not limited to, EOP templates, EOP guidance, reference documents, and security assessments. The platform should use existing password-protected access control methods schools currently utilize and, to the extent possible, be capable of integrating with existing platforms or technologies used by districts for school safety. Through permissions-based access control, the platform should be able to relay information clearly and in real time to each person or entity necessary to provide a unified response to a safety incident, or to take appropriate action in response to an anticipated disruption to the normal functions of the surrounding community – Learn About the nSide Safety Platform
Any other school safety service or product necessary to improve or maintain security in buildings – Learn About All of Our nSide Solutions
Deadline: December 10
Deadline: December 10
School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV)
Under the Project SERV grant, the Department provides short-term support after a traumatic event to affected local educational agencies (LEAs) or institutions of higher education (IHEs). These grants are intended to provide a limited amount of funds to meet acute needs and restore the learning environment.
Project SERV funds have been awarded and used to address needs related to each of the following types of events:
- School shootings
- Suicide clusters
- Terrorism (response to 9/11, Washington, DC sniper incident, Virginia Tech)
- Major natural disasters, (e.g. response to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria)
- School bus accidents
- Student homicides (off campus)
- Hate crimes committed against students, faculty members and/or staff
It is important to note that this list is not exhaustive and that any traumatic event that impacts schools, students, and staff may qualify an LEA or IHE for Project SERV funding.
Deadline: Ongoing
Deadline: Ongoing
COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP)
The Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing School Violence Act of 2018 (STOP School Violence Act of 2018) gave the COPS Office authority to provide awards directly to States, units of local government, or Indian tribes to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the jurisdiction of the grantee through evidence-based school safety programs and technology.
Awards will contribute to this goal by funding projects which include funding of civilian personnel to serve as coordinators with local law enforcement, training for local law enforcement officers, purchase and installation of certain allowable equipment and technology, and other measures to significantly improve school security.
Expected Opening: March 2024
Expected Opening: March 2024
BJA’s STOP School Violence Program
The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) STOP School Violence Program provides funding for initiatives to prevent violence in a K-12 school setting, to further the DOJ’s mission by supporting and assisting county, local, territorial, and tribal jurisdictions in improving efforts to reduce violent crime in and around schools.
Expected Opening: March 2024
Expected Opening: March 2024
OJJDP FY Enhancing School Capacity to Address Youth Violence
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention seeks to support targeted efforts to address youth violence through implementing evidence-based prevention and intervention efforts in a school-based setting (K–12th grade only). The goals of the program are to (1) reduce the incidence of school violence through improved school safety and climate and (2) prevent youth violence, delinquency, and victimization in the targeted community.
Specifically, the program aims to increase school safety through the development and expansion of violence prevention and reduction programs and strategies. Through this initiative, applicants are expected to utilize a collaborative approach between schools and community-based organizations (CBOs) to develop and implement these strategies. Funded sites under this initiative will operate from the following three principles:
- Relationships between schools and CBOs require open lines of communication and a shared commitment at the leadership level to accomplish the core goal of increasing school safety.
- Key contributors to youth violence include risk factors within the individual, family, and school/community domains. Funded strategies must address all three to be successful.
- Families are critical partners in dealing with school violence, and their engagement is a critical ingredient for success.