This week the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s (PCCD) School Safety and Security Committee informed school entities that filed for the Part B competitive grants that there will be a three-week period to revise and resubmit their applications based on updated information. The period will begin on Monday, Feb. 4 and end on Monday, Feb. 25, 2019.

The committee reported that it has received $315 million worth of requests for school safety improvement grants, while only $40 million remains available for distribution. Given that the committee will only be able to fund approximately 13% of the original funds requested, a decision was made to allow applicants to revise their grant requests and that final grant revisions focus on the most critical locally identified safety priorities. The following items must be clearly addressed in the final application:  Articulation of why the requested item(s) are needed and how the need was identified (i.e., cite school safety assessment, recognized best practices, developed strategy based on local data, etc.) (Statement of Purpose section).  Description of why the applicant needs additional financial resources to enhance security (Statement of Purpose section).  Description of plan for sustaining recurring costs or a statement that there are no recurring costs in the application (Project Description section). Final recommended projects will be taken to the committee’s April 30, 2019 meeting.  Projects receiving awards will be posted online on the School Safety and Security webpage on the www.pccd.pa.gov website no later than May 1, 2019. The full announcement can be found here.