Safety And Facilities Enhancement (SAFE) Grant

Overview

Preventing school violence requires addressing the factors that put people at risk for or that protect them from violence. In an effort to support local safety efforts, on May 31, 2023, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) released the Adopted amendment to 19 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) Chapter 61, School Districts, Subchapter CC, Commissioner’s Rules Concerning School Facilities, §61.1031, School Safety Requirements to provide a minimum standard for educational facilities for the state of Texas.  

SAFE Grant and Needs Assessment

The 88th Texas Legislative Session appropriated $800M towards supporting school systems in meeting the adopted school safety standards. School systems that have applied to the 2022-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant and have not certified compliance with the facility requirements are highly encouraged to complete the Safety and Facility Enhancement (SAFE) grant needs assessment. 

School systems should include work already done to implement the rule dating back to June 1, 2022. School systems should complete all needs assessment fields with as much accuracy as possible and should include and indicate in each section actual money spent or contract bid amounts received where applicable.  

Eligibility

See the General and Fiscal Guidelines, Eligibility to Apply for LOIs. 

An LEA meeting the below requirements is eligible for Cycle 1 of the SAFE Grant:  

• Local educational agencies (LEAs) who have applied for the 2022-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant and have certified that they are NOT in compliance with the adopted school safety standards in Section B of the 2022-2025 School Safety Standards Formula Grant application.  
• LEAs with a reported enrollment of at least one student from the October 2021 PEIMS Fall snapshot submission will be eligible for funding.  
• Any new charter school opening after September 20, 2023 (the date of grant availability) will be ineligible for funding throughout the life of the grant.  
• Private schools are not eligible recipients for funding. 

Needs Assessment must be completed no later than September 21, 2023 for LEAs to be considered for funding. 

Needs Assessment

• SAFE Grant Needs Assessment link 
• Deadline to submit: September 21, 2023 
• Note: Once a needs assessment is started, it will remain open for only 48 hours. After 48 hours, the information will be cleared from the needs assessment and the person completing the assessment will have to start from the beginning. School systems can download a PDF preview of the needs assessment prior to completing the Qualtrics needs assessment. 

Additional Supports and Questions  

For more information please visit Superintendent Supports: Safe Schools or email us at safeschools@tea.texas.gov.