Update: Schools will receive an invitation from the Department to participate in grant activities this spring.
The Maine Department of Education has been awarded a 5-year grant from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education. The funding will go towards an initiative called Maine Grant for School Emergency Management aimed at helping Maine schools by providing training and technical assistance in the development and implementation of high-quality school emergency operations plans (EOPS).
This project is grounded in the belief that multihazard emergency planning for schools helps schools and communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from critical incidents. The Maine Grant for School Emergency Management project is the next step of work that began with a Maine School Security Report that was initiated by the Maine Legislature.
The primary goals of the Maine Grant for School Emergency Management project are to:
- Provide schools, especially those identified as high need in rural areas, with high-quality EOP training at no cost.
- Ensure that local educational agencies have access at no cost to a new customizable EOP template that can be easily updated and includes technical guidance.
- Provide high-quality EOP technical assistance clinics at no cost that will be delivered to develop a team of education sector professionals who are committed to work with schools.
The grant allocation is over five years:
Year 1: $614,773
Year 2: $567,920
Year 3: $567,920
Year 4: $567,920
Year 5: $567,920
Grant Total: $2,886,453
The grant activities, as awarded, are one hundred percent federally funded. No project costs will be financed by non-governmental sources.
The Department of Education takes school safety, security, emergency management, and preparedness seriously and is continually taking steps to improve it.
Further questions and inquiries can be send to Pat Hinckley, Maine DOE Transportation and Facilities Administrator at pat.hinckley@maine.gov.