Any LEA in the country that is eligible to apply for federal school safety grants can participate in the Greenlights Grant Initiative. Every school district is eligible to receive grant alerts, tutorials, webinars, grant writing guidance, and other tools to help them apply for school safety grants. The Greenlights Grant Initiative will also provide fully funded grant-writing consulting services to select high-need, low-capacity school districts.

The Greenlights Grant Initiative was founded to ensure the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is fully utilized and to ensure that all school districts are able to benefit from the law. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act is landmark legislation that can help save lives and prevent tragedies like the one at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX, from continuing to occur. However, the critical bipartisan policies embedded in this legislation have not been fully realized. The process for school districts, or local education agencies (LEA), to apply for federal grants is incredibly complicated, intimidating, and expensive. There is also insufficient awareness of the school safety grants. This has led to federal school safety grants being underutilized and under-resourced school districts, which need additional support the most, are at a significant disadvantage in their effort to secure federal funding. Our core goals are to help more school districts apply for and receive federal school safety grants, simplify the grant process, and ensure continued and increased funding for school safety grants.

We consider any grant that is designed to identify school security threats, improve collaboration and coordination between law enforcement and schools, connect students with mental health programs and personnel, and promote positive school culture and climate to be a school safety grant. For the purpose of this initiative, we focus on the grants included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.

In partnership with education funding experts, the Greenlights Grant Initiative will identify select high-need, low-capacity districts to receive fully funded grant writing services. These school districts will be selected based on a variety of factors, including:

• High poverty rates
• Student-to-mental health professional ratio
• Whether or not a district has applied for or received a federal grant in the past
• School districts in which students have recently experienced a natural disaster or traumatic event 
• Geographic diversity

Yes. We hope that by participating in this initiative, school districts that have never applied for a federal grant will be empowered to apply for other federal grants. 

Absolutely. Every school district in the country should be able to apply for school safety grants, and the Greenlights Grant Initiative will provide support to any school district interested in participating. However, given the funding and resource disparities facing high-need LEAs, the Greenlight Grant Initiative will provide additional, fully-funded grant writing support to select high-need, low capacity school districts navigating the grant process.

There are several potential grants that can be applied for, targeting areas related to school violence prevention, mental health services, and academic enrichment. Available school safety grants come from various sources, including the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Education. We list all available grants on the “Grant Search” page on our website.

We support all private sector and philanthropic efforts to help make schools safer, and we believe that every American plays a role in protecting our children. Federal and state governments, however, are best positioned to create and manage school safety grants as well as implement safety measures. American taxpayers should be relying on democratic institutions to fund and distribute school safety funds; our work is to help ensure that actually happens.

The Greenlights Grant Initiative will provide tutorials, webinars, and best practices toolkits for school districts that are awarded federal grants and in the post-award phase.

Applying for federal grants is challenging due to complex guidelines, intense competition, and stringent regulations. The process involves lengthy applications, detailed information, and compliance with legal and administrative requirements. Significant time and effort are required for research, proposal writing, budget development, and collaboration.

Greenlights Grant Initiative will review the applications and determine what level of support we can offer your district. We know the need for federal grant support is enormous, and we are committed to doing as much as we can to support your district in pursuant of federal school safety funding with the finite resources we have.

Each grant competition has different rules and requirements. GGI will be launching resources that explain when state  grant applications are available and how to apply. Our hope is that no matter how large or small your district is, we can assist you and your team in applying for these school safety dollars.

Federal grants have differing timelines, and it is important to keep a close eye on each grant application’s posting dates and closing dates. GGI will make it easy for district leaders to stay on top of the deadlines and application windows through our website.

At this point, we are focused on federal school safety grants included in the Bipartisan Safer  Communities Act, which includes the Stronger Connections grant program being dispersed by state education agencies. We are, however, fully supportive of state-level efforts to bolster school security via grant programs.

No, we cannot guarantee that your grant application will be successful. It is a competitive process, and the federal agencies and state education agencies will ultimately decide who is awarded grants. We are focused on increasing awareness of school safety grants, supporting school districts with the resources and tools to apply, and ensuring continued federal funding for school safety.

Yes, charter schools that are LEAs or are part of LEAs are eligible for federal school safety funding.