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Justice Department awards Nevada more than $1 million for school safety initiatives

Jackie Valley
Jackie Valley
EducationIndyBlog
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The back end of a Clark County School bus

The Department of Justice has awarded Nevada more than $1 million to boost school security through improved threat assessment and more mental health training.

The grant is part of a $70 million investment nationwide that the Justice Department announced Tuesday as it heeds the call to provide financial assistance in the wake of several school shootings.

“Students should not fear going to school,” Nevada’s U.S. Attorney Dayle Elieson said in a statement. “These grants reflect the Department of Justice’s commitment to safe and secure learning environments for our students. The STOP School Violence grants will improve school security by providing students and teachers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and prevent acts of violence.”

The Nevada Department of Education will receive $1 million, and the Lincoln County School District will get $13,846, officials said in a news release. It wasn’t immediately clear why Lincoln County received a separate grant.

The Department of Education’s award will fund two initiatives:  $500,000 will go toward the development and operation of school threat assessment and crisis intervention teams as well as anonymous reporting systems. The other $500,000 will be used for training school personnel and students, including specialized instruction for school officials who respond to mental health crises. The Lincoln County School District’s award also will be used for training purposes.

In addition to the state grants, the Justice Department has invested more than $1 million to research the factors behind mass shootings. The research aims to create a risk prediction tool by analyzing any patterns in mass shootings, including the purchase of firearms, as well as the psychological and social life histories of people who have committed these acts.

A string of school shootings earlier this year — and the Las Vegas shooting last year — reinvigorated a yearslong conversation about how to prevent such incidents. In Nevada, Gov. Brian Sandoval created a school safety task force charged with examining the issue and providing recommendations. The group has released some preliminary recommendations and will meet a final time Oct. 25.

The topic has received even more attention recently in the Clark County School District, where police have arrested a steady stream of students found to be in possession of a firearm this school year. Last month, Superintendent Jesus Jara announced the creation of an advisory group to tackle the burgeoning gun problem.

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