There’s a growing momentum in legislative efforts to boost safety in our schools; however, the journey to secure funding for these vital initiatives remains a process full of hurdles. Schools must navigate numerous grants, each earmarked for a specific project and funded through a different legislative body, which can be incredibly time-consuming and resource-intensive.

A new bipartisan bill, the Single Application for School Safety Act (SASS), aims to finally address this issue. The innovative new bill would revolutionize the way schools apply for safety funding by streamlining the application process. With SASS, we can empower schools to access the resources they desperately need, like panic buttons, emergency notification systems and more, to enhance their security measures, ensuring that our children learn in a safe and secure environment.

About the SASS Act

The Single Application for School Safety Act (SASS) was introduced to the House of Representatives on February 13 by Representative Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26), along with Representatives Jared Moskowitz (D-FL-23), Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23), and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20). This bill seeks to establish a single safety grant application that the Department of Justice may utilize to evaluate schools’ eligibility for all pertinent funding associated with their safety initiatives. By removing bureaucratic obstacles and optimizing the process for acquiring federal safety funding, proponents of the bill aspire to facilitate a more efficient pathway for schools to obtain essential safety resources.

Benefits of the SASS Act

Administrators and legislators are continuously exploring ways to improve safety for students and staff as violent incidents in schools nationwide have become an alarmingly regular occurrence. Unfortunately, the complex process of securing funding for these improvements can prevent districts from taking action or significantly delay the implementation of improved security measures. The SASS Act aims to streamline this process, allowing schools to be more agile in adopting and upgrading safety tools as new and innovative solutions become available.

This streamlined process will also help ease the burden of meeting strict compliance deadlines for State-level legislative efforts, such as Alyssa’s Law. With less focus on securing funding, administrators can focus their efforts on ensuring they are truly choosing the most reliable and innovative solutions for schools or districts within their jurisdiction. Creating secure environments that not only meet compliance requirements but exceed them, providing peace of mind for students, staff and parents.

It would be remiss not to mention that this legislation may also unintentionally help to address long-debated issues of equity in school funding. Districts in lower-income areas depend on special state or federal grants to provide the same level of security as wealthier districts. The current system places an unfair burden on these schools, not only from an administrative and logistical standpoint but also by increasing the risks faced by students and staff. By streamlining the process of securing federal funding, the SASS Act could be a first step in addressing these disparities. No matter their financial standing, every school deserves access to life-saving resources and security tools to protect their students and staff.

Next Steps

The bill’s text has not yet been released, but we will continue to monitor its progress and provide updates as more information becomes available. Use the form below to subscribe to our newsletter and stay up-to-date on the latest developments on this and other legislation.

Tags: “school safety” “ school legislation”