A total of 204 school districts and 69 charters, cooperatives and state academies applied and received no funding through the new state school safety grants announced this past week. Only 13 districts and 12 charters or coops received full funding for security and violence prevention improvements through the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE).
Of the 78 school districts that received school safety grants, 65 of them only received partial funding for their applications.
MREA released today this interactive map illustrating the districts that received some level of funding (fully or partially), those that applied and were not funded and those that did not apply. View interactive map
The Minnesota Legislature approved the school safety grant program last session and allocated $25 million in funding. MDE received a total of 1,187 complete applications, requesting $255.5 million—more than 10 times the available amount of funding.
| Description | Number |
| Districts Receiving Full Funding | 13 |
| Districts Receiving Partial Funding | 65 |
| Applying Districts Receiving No Funding | 204 |
| Districts which Did Not Apply | 49 |
| Charter and Coops Fully Funded | 12 |
| Applying Charters, Cooperatives and State Academies Receiving No Funding | 69 |
View list by district, charter, cooperative and state academy with totals.
View spreadsheet of grant awardees with sites and purposes.
High-priority projects included improvements to exterior entry security, such as access controls, keyless entry systems, door locking and glass integrity, door alarm systems, and structure changes to main entrances. Additions or improvements to communication systems, such as electronic emergency notification systems for staff and first responders, were also considered high-priority projects. Learn more about the grant process.
Unmet Needs
The $25 million begins to provide the state share needed to better ensure the safety of students.
Meeting less than 10 percent of the identified need matches the current state share of school facility bonded debt payments even with the addition of the 40 percent Ag2School credit in 2018. About 94 percent of 2018 school district bond payments are from local taxpayers. Learn more.
Minnesota’s new governor and legislature will need to consider methods to address student safety and the state’s share of school facility investments- whether for safety or other purposes—in 2019 session.
MREA intends to assist with data and ideas as we develop our platform with our members.
