SACRAMENTO — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today announced the awarding of a $350,000 School Safety and Violence Prevention Training grant to the Kern County Office of Education.

"All children deserve to learn in an environment that is safe. This is important because research shows that students who feel safe and are surrounded by people who care about them are more likely to succeed academically," said O'Connell.  "The Kern County Office of Education was selected to receive this grant, because it had the most experience and a long history in developing violence prevention plans."

The five-year grant supports one county office of education, serving all 11 superintendent regions throughout the state, to administer training on school safety and violence prevention planning methods related to bullying prevention, safe schools, and crisis response.  The Kern County Office of Education will review evaluations of the training sessions and provide an annual report to the School/Law Enforcement Partnership, a joint effort between the California Department of Education and the State Attorney General's Office.

"It is critical to the development of our children and the future of our state that we provide a safe learning environment in our schools," said Attorney General Bill Lockyer. "Through this grant, the Kern County Office of Education will be able to develop violence prevention plans to achieve this goal."

The grantee will receive an initial $50,000 advance upon notification of the award. However, continued funding in years two through five of the program is contingent upon the grantee meeting the reporting requirements, grant administration, and demonstration of adequate progress of the project. 

The California Legislature consolidated six state programs for school safety into one competitive grant program in 2004, using all funds from the previous programs. The new $16.3 million program was named the School Community Violence Prevention Program. Through this allocation, the School/Law Enforcement Partnership offered a competitive School Safety and Violence Prevention Training Grant of $350,000 per year for one county office of education to provide regional training. 

The Kern County Office of Education administered the California School Safety and Violence Prevention Training contract for 12 years. Of the four applications received this year, the grantee was selected based on its ability and experience in coordinating a statewide training program, the quality of its plan, and the appropriateness of its proposed budget. 

For more information on the School Safety and Violence Prevention Training grant, please visit Past Funding Profile (ID 840): School Safety and Violence Prevention Training.