How To Apply for School Panic Alarm System Grants in the U.S.

Many grants are immediately available to help U.S. schools who need access to funding for school panic alarm crisis systems to help them quickly respond to security incidents.

The Washington Post has identified 203 children and educators who have died and 453 who were injured between the Columbine shooting in 2019 and today, with the scourge of school violence showing no signs of decline. There were 404 school shootings since 1999, according to Post data.

Legislators started to act after the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas School in Florida in 2018 that killed 17 people. Parents of one of the students killed started the Make Our Schools Safe Foundation which helped pass the first Alyssa’s Law in New Jersey in 2019, mandating the installation of emergency alert systems that connect to law enforcement in public schools.

Five states have also passed Alyssa’s Law since New Jersey in 2019, with nine states pending.

Types of Grants

School security grants come in various forms to support safety enhancements in educational institutions. Emergency management software is also an approved expense for many school safety grants.

FEDERAL GRANTS

Federal grants are allocated by the federal government and can be used for a wide range of security improvements and violence prevention initiatives. Different federal grants include:

US Department of Justice COPS SVPP Grant

“The COPS Office School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP) provides funding directly to states, units of local government, Indian tribes, and their public agencies to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the recipient’s jurisdiction through evidence-based school safety programs. The goal of this program is to improve security at schools and on school grounds through the implementation of evidence-based school safety programs and technology.”

FEMA Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP)

“The Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) provides funding support for target hardening and other physical security enhancements and activities to nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack. The intent is to integrate nonprofit preparedness activities with broader state and local preparedness efforts. It is also designed to promote coordination and collaboration in emergency preparedness activities among public and private community representatives, as well as state and local government agencies.”

Department of Education ESSER Funds

The Department of Education has 190 billion dollars of ESSER funding (“Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund”) to award through their Education Stabilization Fund for state educational agencies including elementary and secondary education relief.

STATE GRANTS

State grants, provided by state governments, often focus on specific regional needs. Raptor has a handy list of grants available by state.

What Are the Best Practices to Obtain Grants?

• Pay attention to the rules. Read the grant application line-by-line and look for things that will automatically get your application rejected like due dates, formatting and more. It’s a good idea to make a check list and have multiple people go through the application.
• Make sure your application aligns with the fund’s requirements and includes the most compelling and applicable projects.
• Organize your application clearly with logical headings, figures, and bullet lists to make it easy for reviewers to understand your project.
• Use quantitative information that clearly and transparently re-enforces your need for the funds.
• Present your information clearly and concisely in a straightforward manner and avoid unnecessary jargon.
• Show exactly how you plan to implement and use the funds.
• Include information about key personnel and experts who will administer the program.
• Look for a grant writing expert who can assist you with your application and proposal or even write both for you. Contact RFT if your school or district needs funding for a staff protection system with mobile panic buttons which enable teachers to call for immediate assistance. We have experts we can refer to you to help with any grant application and proposal.

Help Alert® For Schools

RFT has helped many schools and educators in the U.S. deal with increasing security challenges since 2011 with Help Alert®, a staff protection system with silent mobile panic buttons.

RFT is a pioneer in the field of location pinpointing and developed a technology in 2002 that creates precise real-time location, a key feature of the product, and critically important in quickly finding where an incident is occurring.

The technology is called 3D-iD® which creates a virtual 3D model of the physical environment constructed from XYZ coordinates and finds a person’s exact location inside or outside buildings using an innovative wireless positioning system.

The Help Alert system is a comprehensive solution that is fully compliant with Alyssa’s Law and includes a silent emergency panic button which automatically connects to law enforcement and 911, and LoRa (Long Range), wireless indoor and outdoor coverage. This system allows staff to instantly alert security personnel in case of emergencies and fills the need for schools with or without security resource officers to respond to incidents.

Conclusion:

There are many different types of federal and state grants in the U.S. schools can apply for funding of panic alarm systems.  Make sure to carefully follow the application rules and use best practices to obtain funding and make sure your silent panic alarm system is compliant with Alyssa’s Law and federal and state regulations.