Press release:
Congressman Chris Jacobs (NY-27) cosponsored the Securing our Students Act, a piece of legislation designed to allow school districts to access unused COVID-19 funds to purchase equipment and improve school safety measures.
“As the Senate and the House continue to debate steps forward on gun-control measures and meaningful action is still weeks away – there are steps we can take right now to ensure schools across our nation are the safest possible learning environments for our students,” Jacobs said.“One such action is the Securing our Students Act which would allow school districts to immediately allow school districts the ability to put unused American Rescue Plan Funds toward safety measures.”
The Securing our Students Act – introduced by Representative Burgess Owens (UT-04) – would allow school districts to immediately amend their spending plans to allow for American Rescue Plan funds to be used for evidence-based school safety measures. The bill would require schools to submit documentation of specific needs and would also require a full accounting of funds spent toward school safety measures. Finally, the bill requires states to move expeditiously to approve any amended plans submitted by schools for this purpose.
“Right now, roughly 93% of K-12 funding, or billions of dollars nationally, from the American Rescue Plan remains unspent. This is funding we can use right now to harden our schools and prevent further tragedy,” Jacobs said. “I urge my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to support this measure, and I call on the Speaker to bring it to the floor, if we can act on this issue, we should do so expeditiously.”
