WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services have launched a new federal grant competition aimed at helping states strengthen school security, emergency preparedness, and campus safety infrastructure as part of a broader effort to shift more program administration to state-level partners.
The School Safety Enhancement program, announced for fiscal year 2026, will provide competitive funding to support evidence-based safety measures in schools, including infrastructure security upgrades, emergency response planning, coordination efforts, and training exercises for school personnel and school resource officers.
The initiative will be funded through the Education Department’s School Safety National Activities program and administered through a partnership between the Education and Health and Human Services departments.
According to the agencies, the competition will operate under Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s Returning Education to the States supplemental priority, which is intended to align federal education funding more closely with state priorities.
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Kirsten Baesler said the grants are intended to help schools establish and strengthen systems that protect students while supporting learning.
“These grants will support schools in establishing and strengthening safe and secure systems to ensure that students can focus on their academic development,” Baesler said.
The program expands an existing partnership between the two departments focused on school safety initiatives and follows a series of interagency agreements the Education Department has established as part of the Trump administration’s effort to reduce federal administrative functions and increase state involvement in education programs.
Under the agreement, HHS will assist with grant administration, technical assistance, and integration of school safety initiatives with related programs already managed by the department.
Assistant Secretary for the Administration for Children and Families Alex J. Adams said the partnership is designed to simplify grant administration while supporting implementation of proven school safety measures.
“By streamlining the grants processes, together HHS and ED are making it easier for states to implement proven safety measures that create the necessary environment for children to thrive academically,” Adams said.
The Education Department said it has established 10 interagency agreements with five federal agencies to support the administration’s education policy objectives.
Additional guidance for grant recipients is expected as the program is implemented.
Information about the competition is available through the grant notice posted on Grants.gov.
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