Congresswoman Matsui Announces Over Half a Million Dollars for Sacramento City Unified School District

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 19, 2010

CONTACTS: MARA LEE
(202) 225-7163

Today, Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui (D-Sacramento) announced that the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) has been selected to receive $576,659 in Federal funding from the Department of Education under the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Program. This grant will help SCUSD strengthen and improve their emergency response and crisis management plans to keep Sacramento students and faculty properly trained and prepared in the case of emergency.

Sacramento students are sent to school to learn and grow and it is our responsibility to prioritize their learning and safety, said Congresswoman Matsui. This funding is symbolic of the Federal government's dedication to ensuring the safety of our students and I am especially pleased that this award will help provide Sacramento City Unified School District the support they need to provide training, conduct school assessments, and revise existing emergency management plans.

At a time when resources are so scarce, this grant will help us fund critical initiatives that will make our schools safer places for all of our students and families, said Jonathan Raymond, Superintendent of Sacramento City Unified School District. This funding will help ensure that our school safety teams are properly trained and prepared and will help equip all of our classrooms with appropriate emergency supplies. The best way to keep our community safe is through proper training and preventive measures and these funds will support that work.

REMS is a discretionary grant program to provide funds for Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to improve and strengthen their emergency management plans. The discretionary grant program will enable SCUSD to develop improved plans that address all four phases of emergency management: Prevention-Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Recovery.

In order to implement their plans, SCUSD will be working with community partners including, local law enforcement, public safety and emergency management, public health, and mental health agencies and our local government. The plans will include training for school staff, a plan to sustain local partnerships after the period of Federal assistance, a plan for communicating emergency management policies and reunification procedures to parents, and a written plan for improving LEA capacity to sustain the emergency management process through ongoing training and continual review of policies and procedures.

The REMS grant will cover a 2 year for the period September 1, 2010 through August 31, 2012.