01.11.22

Durbin, Duckworth Announce $3 Million For Illinois Communities To Advance School Safety And Violence Prevention

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today announced a total of $3,048,982 in U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grants for Illinois communities to improve school safety and support school violence prevention efforts. The grants, awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office), provide funding for safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools, including training for local law enforcement to prevent student violence, technology to quickly notify local law enforcement during an emergency, and other tools to improve security.

“Every student, teacher, and staff member should be safe in their schools,” Durbin said. “This federal funding will give communities around Illinois additional resources to not only respond to school violence, but help prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place. Senator Duckworth and I will continue working to secure federal resources that will help create a safer and more effective learning environment for Illinois students.”

“No student, teacher or staff member should feel unsafe in school—that’s why I’m joining Senator Durbin in announcing this program that will help ensure that our state’s schools can minimize and prevent violence and focus on educating our youth," said Duckworth.

The following Illinois school districts have been awarded funding:

  • Anna Community Consolidated School District No. 37 (Union County): $401,588
  • Cahokia Public School District #187 (St. Clair County): $268,575
  • Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C (Will County): $500,000
  • City of Moline (Rock Island County): $111,744
  • Mundelein Elementary School District 75 (Lake County): $398,394
  • River Trails School District #26 (Cook County): $478,553
  • SPEED S.E.J.A. 802 School District (Cook County): $43,208
  • Washington Community High School District #308 (Tazewell County): $95,425
  • Worth School District (Cook County): $397,120
  • Zion Elementary School District 6 (Lake County): $354,375

This funding is part of nearly $126 million awarded by DOJ nationally to advance school safety under the STOP School Violence Act.

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