Maine Schools, School Violence Prevention, Maine 2020

Portland, Maine - A massive federal effort to prevent school violence has awarded over $85.3 million to bolster school security in Maine, including funding to educate and train students and faculty, and support first responders who arrive on the scene of a school shooting or other violent incident.

Attorney General William P. Barr said, “These federal resources will help to prevent school violence and give our students the support they need to learn, grow, and thrive. By training faculty, students and first responders, and by improving school security measures, we can make schools and their communities safer.”

The grants award more than $1.25 million in funding to prevent violence in Maine schools. Sanctioned school administrative units received funding under the School Violence Prevention Program of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office):

Sanford School Department received $216,221. Regional School Unit No. 52 received $324,108. School Administrative District 15 received $494,850. Regional School Unit No. 38 received $40,500. School Administrative District 30 received $181,767.

U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank said, “These grants to Maine schools will assist local districts in preventing violence in schools and enhancing the safety of Maine schoolchildren. The Department of Justice, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, are committed to working with our local partners to ensure schools are safe places in which to learn. In particular, we believe that current best practice is the use of multi-disciplinary teams to assess and respond to school threats.”

The grant programs are managed by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and the COPS Office and are designed to improve threat assessments, train students and faculty to provide tips and leads, and prepare law enforcement officers and emergency professionals to respond to school shootings and other violent incidents.

For more details about these individual award programs, as well as listings of individual 2019 awardees, visit https://go.usa.gov/xVJuV

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/pr/department-justice-awards-more-853-million-grants-address-school-violence