Funding program

Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence)

Rolling

Project SERV funds short-term services that help a school recover from and respond to a violent or traumatic event, including security and safety measures during recovery. A district restoring its safety posture after an incident can pursue SERV funds for the security technology that recovery requires. SERV is event-driven, applied for after a qualifying event rather than on a fixed annual cycle.

Program details

What the program funds, and who can apply

Short-term education-related services to help schools/campuses recover from and respond to a violent or traumatic event and restore the learning environment (e.g., mental health/counseling support, security and safety measures during recovery, substitute staffing, overtime, communication). Qualifying events: school shootings, suicide clusters, terrorism, natural disasters, school bus accidents, student homicides, hate crimes (non-exhaustive).

Administering agency

U.S. Department of Education - Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), Safe and Supportive Schools

Who can apply

Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) that have experienced a violent or traumatic event of such magnitude that it severely disrupted the learning environment, and that cannot adequately meet the resulting needs with existing resources.

Status

Open on an as-needed, event-driven basis. There is no fixed annual deadline: the program page lists both Application Deadline and Application Status as 'Not Applicable'. The Department has published ten FY2026 awards, confirming the program is actively making awards in the current fiscal year. Applications follow a qualifying violent or traumatic event.

Deadline

No fixed deadline, event-driven. LEAs and IHEs apply on a rolling basis after a qualifying traumatic event by contacting the Department of Education. The program now lists separate contacts for school-violence SERV and natural-disaster SERV; get the current contact from the official program page rather than a cached address.

Funding amount

Awards are sized to the incident and vary widely; there is no published per-award cap and no match requirement. The ten published FY2026 awards range from $25,434 (Lower Kuskokwim School District, AK) to $439,630 (Anchorage School District, AK). FY2025 awards ranged from $12,989 to $1,252,000. Two tiers exist, both at the Secretary's discretion and subject to appropriations: Immediate Services (emergency short-term assistance) and Extended Services (longer recovery).

Assistance listing (CFDA)

84.184S

FAQ

Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence), answered

Can Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence) pay for school safety mapping?

Project SERV funds short-term services that help a school recover from and respond to a violent or traumatic event, including security and safety measures during recovery. A district restoring its safety posture after an incident can pursue SERV funds for the security technology that recovery requires. SERV is event-driven, applied for after a qualifying event rather than on a fixed annual cycle.

Who is eligible for Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence)?

Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) and Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) that have experienced a violent or traumatic event of such magnitude that it severely disrupted the learning environment, and that cannot adequately meet the resulting needs with existing resources.

What is the deadline for Project SERV (School Emergency Response to Violence)?

No fixed deadline, event-driven. LEAs and IHEs apply on a rolling basis after a qualifying traumatic event by contacting the Department of Education. The program now lists separate contacts for school-violence SERV and natural-disaster SERV; get the current contact from the official program page rather than a cached address. Confirm the current timeline at the official program source, as cycles change.

Source

Straight from the official program

Every figure on this page comes from the official program source below, last verified 2026-09-01. Programs, amounts, and deadlines change, so confirm the current rule at the source before you apply. This page is informational and not legal or grant-writing advice. How we verify.

U.S. Department of Education - Project SERV (official program page) verified 2026-09-01

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