Arizona approves $78.7M in school safety grants, turns down over $100M in requests

The Arizona State Board of Education recently awarded nearly $79 million in school safety grants but had to turn down over $100 million in requests.

The board approved the funding during a May 18 meeting after the Arizona Department of Education’s (ADE) Director of School Safety Mike Kurtenbach explained how many safety grant applications the department had received from schools across the state.

“(There’s) $78.7 million that’s available to be awarded. We received over $181 million in requests for positions. So that’s why the rubric was strictly applied. That’s why the positions are listed before you today for approval,” he said.

Kurtenbach explained during the meeting out of the $82 million appropriation for the state’s school safety grant program, 4% went to administrative costs. According to funding requirements, $50 million of the remaining funding must go towards school resource officers (SRO), leaving around $28 million for school counselor positions.

“The numbers reflect that 323 police officer positions will be funded, down 135 from the original number, and we went from 64 counselor social worker positions up to the 334 that’s listed there today,” he said.

The funding for school safety gets renewed every three years. This approval will carry forward for the 2026-27 school year through the 2028-29 school year.

Schools had to apply for the ADE safety grants by April 15 and include implementation plans for incoming SROs and counselors.

Mesa Public Schools awarded over $4.1 million for school safety

Mesa Public Schools, the largest school district in the state, is getting 19 SROs and 22 school counselors through a total grant of more than $4.1 million.

This comes as the Chandler Police Department’s deal to supply SROs for Mesa and two other East Valley districts expires. That agreement was also funded by ADE.

The Phoenix Union High School District is also getting 15 SROs as a part of the approved grants.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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