Security Action for Education (SAFE) Grant

The Security Action for Education (SAFE) Grant was established in 2022, and includes a portion of leftover funding from the Public School Infrastructure Fund, as well as an additional $10 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. This fund will support school security and safety improvements for K-12 public and nonpublic schools throughout New Hampshire.

SAFE Grant Awards - Second Round 

SAFE Grant Awards - Early Decision 

Here’s what you need to know about the SAFE grant:

  • Grants were ranked by Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM). 
  • Applicants were required to submit an application for each school that covers only one project “category.” The categories are: access control, surveillance, and emergency alerting. For example, if you have a district-wide need for replacing door locks, you will need to enter an application for each school. This also means that if you have one school that needs door locks (access control) and notification beacons (emergency altering), you will need to fill out two applications, one for each project category at that school.  
  • Applicants may submit more than one project per school.
  • Early decision grant window closed end of day on July 22, 2022  (see more on the award process below).
  • Final call for applications closed end of day on August 26, 2022.
  • Awards cover 100% of the eligible project costs.
  • The maximum award to any one school is $100,000.
  • Projects that have been included in an approved school budget, prior to July 1, 2022, are not eligible for funding.
  • Applicants must obligate all funds by June 30, 2023.
  • Last day to request reimbursement will be December 31, 2024. The Completion of Project and Request for Payment form will be posted soon. 

More on the award process:

  • The $13M SAFE grant is funded by two types of funding: $3M of Public School Infrastructure money (state money available for public schools only) and $10M of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money (federal money available to public and nonpublic schools).
  • The $3M of state money was allocated first (AKA: early decision awards). These early decision awards were granted to the top priority public school applications that are received by end of day on July 22. 
  • The $10M of federal money was allocated next. Applications that did not receive an early decision award were automatically considered for the second allotment of funds, as well as all of the nonpublic school applications. This final round of awards was granted to the top priority applications that are received by end of day on August 26. 
  • Announcement of early decision awards was made in September and announcements of the remaining awards were made in October, 2022
  • There are two funding sources for the SAFE Grant: $3 million in NH state funding from the Public School Infrastructure Fund, and $10 million in federal funding from the Covid-19 American Rescue Plan Act, State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds under Section 602 (c)(1)(C) (SLFRF.) While there are two different sources of funding, the expenditure category of the federal ARPA CSLFRF funds, “6.1 Revenue Loss,” means that the two grants will be managed in the same way. 

SAFE Grant Process Outline

SAFE Grant FAQ

Recipient Requirements for Security Action for Education (SAFE) Funding

Questions:

Status and Updates:

Additional tips for GMS:

  • When filling in your project information in GMS, please remember to select a Category (Access Control, Emergency Alerting, or Surveillance) from the Category drop-down menu. Your category must match the category you entered on your application. 
  • Under "Priorities," please enter your project description. Your project description must be entered exactly as you wrote in your application. You will find the description in your answer to number 8 on the application. 
  • It is important that your project description in GMS is exactly the same as your description in number 8 of the application since that answer was approved for funding. If you write something different, there is no guarantee that it is approved or reimburseable and your application will be returned for correction. 
  • Email Chris Armatys with any questions or concerns at Krzysztof.J.Armatys@doe.nh.gov.