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Security Equipment Grants

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Introduction

The Virginia Public School Authority (VPSA) issued $12 million in equipment notes in conjunction with the existing Virginia Public School Authority technology notes program. Proceeds of these additional notes will be used to help offset related local costs associated with the purchasing of qualifying security equipment to improve and help ensure the safety of students attending public schools in Virginia.

Training Resources

Grants Awarded

2024-2025 Application Process

School divisions are eligible to receive up to $250,000 each fiscal year through a competitive grant process. To be considered, grant applications must be submitted to VDOE between July 1, 2024 and August 1, 2024 by 5 p.m. Applications can be accessed through the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Single Sign-On for Web-based Systems (SSWS) portal under the Security Equipment Grant Management (SEGM) application.  

Eligibility Requirements

School divisions are required to use these funds to purchase approved security equipment that will be used in public school buildings and any related equipment installation costs in eligible schools.  The grants cannot be used to pay for security equipment that is not included or described in the grant application or for extended equipment warranties or service contracts agreements.  The school must be scheduled to remain open for at least five more years and there should be no planned renovations/additions for the next five years which would cause the security equipment being requested to become obsolete.

Local Match Requirement

In order for a school division to receive a grant, a local match of 25 percent of the grant amount is required.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction is authorized to reduce the local match for school divisions with a composite index of local ability-to-pay less than 0.2000, including any such school division participating in a regional vocational center, special education center, alternative education center, or academic year Governor's School.  The Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind is exempt from the match requirement.

Reimbursement

A Request for Reimbursement form must be completed and submitted to the VDOE Office of Support Services showing the school name, the total cost of the qualifying equipment purchased and installation cost including supporting documents showing the expenses incurred.  Awarded grant funds will be maintained and disbursed from accounts administered by the State Non-Arbitrage Program (SNAP) under VPSA. Purchases of security equipment must be made within six months of notification.

Once the reimbursement request is approved, written certification will be sent to SNAP for reimbursement payment. SNAP will make the payment within 30 days of receipt of the certification. 

Revisions to Approved Applications

It may be necessary for a school division to revise their original grant application(s) approved for funding.  A reason to revise an application may be to add additional eligible equipment to expend a remaining balance in the grant when the original equipment requested cost less than anticipated.

Revisions to the approved applications may be made through the SSWS portal for the Security Equipment Grant Management (SEGM) application. The individual making the revision to the application needs to have SSWS-SEGM account access issued through their school division's SSWS account manager including “Data Entry” access.

Contacts

If you have questions, please contact the Office of Support Services at 804-750-8715 or email: Vijay.Ramnarain@doe.virginia.gov, Ann.Belanger@doe.virginia.gov, or Nancy.Hartigan@doe.virginia.gov.