Section 310.10  Purpose and Scope

 

This Part establishes the procedures and criteria for submission and consideration of grant applications for designated safety improvements to eligible public elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools.  Grants shall only be available for as long as money is appropriated for that purpose.

 

Section 310.20  Definitions

 

"Applicant" means a public K-12 school district, inter-district special education cooperative, public community college district, or public university system located in the State of Illinois.

"Grantee" means an applicant that is awarded a grant under this Part.

 

"IEMA" means the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

 

"Project" means a specific building or district-wide/campus-wide plan to enhance safety through the purchase and installation of physical security enhancement equipment, inspection and screening systems, information technology, and/or interoperable communications equipment.

 

Section 310.30  Application Procedures

 

a)         There will be an initial application period; however, IEMA reserves the right to open additional application periods depending on funding. 

 

b)         IEMA, in collaboration with other venues, will provide notice that the grant application process is open.  The notice shall include a deadline for receiving applications and details of the application process.  Incomplete or late applications will not be considered.

 

c)         Applicants may submit only one application for funding per application period.  An application may include multiple projects within the school district, cooperative or college or university district or system.

 

d)         Twenty percent of the total funding available per application period shall be designated for Cook County elementary and secondary education applicants.

 

e)         Separate grant funding will be designated for colleges/universities and K-12 schools. Funding may be further designated based on student population served by the applicant.

 

Section 310.40  Application Requirements

 

a)         Each application shall include the following:

 

1)         Legal name of the applicant;

 

2)         The current number of students enrolled by the applicant;

 

3)         Information about all buildings to be enhanced by requested funding;

 

4)         A narrative statement that describes the known school safety hazards, threats, vulnerabilities and risks posed to the applicant; and

 

5)         A narrative statement that describes what steps the applicant has taken in the past five years to mitigate the known school safety hazards, threats, vulnerabilities and risks posed to the applicant.

 

b)         The application shall include the following information for each project:

 

1)         A narrative statement that describes the projects proposed for funding and how the protective activities outlined in the project will reduce the vulnerability of the student population;

 

2)         The methodology that was used to determine the appropriate protective activities outlined in the project, including list of law enforcement officials or other subject matter experts who provided input to the school in the determination of protective needs and project prioritization;

 

3)         A description of any equipment compatibility considerations;

 

4)         The current student population in each educational facility that will be affected by the project;

 

5)         Project budget and timeline;

 

6)         An acknowledgement of compliance with the National Incident Management System;

 

7)         An acknowledgement that each educational facility to be enhanced by the project has a current emergency operations plan (see 29 Ill. Adm. Code 305 and 1500);

 

8)         A copy of a long-term lease agreement that extends a minimum of 10 years from the date of the application if the project affects leased property; and

 

9)         Point of contact for each project.

 

AGENCY NOTE:  All applicants should already be NIMS compliant per federal guidelines.

 

Section 310.50  Project Requirements

 

a)         Grants will be awarded to purchase and install physical security enhancement equipment, inspection and screening systems, information technology, and/or interoperable communications equipment for buildings where students are primarily taught in academic classes.  All extended warranty, service agreements and maintenance costs not included in the cost of the equipment at the time of purchase are the responsibility of the applicant.

 

b)         Grants will be awarded based on the following criteria:

     

1)         The necessity of the funding based on the known school safety hazards, threats and risks identified by the applicant;

 

2)         The ability of the funding to enhance the safety of the student population;

 

3)         An evaluation of the likelihood of project completion during the grant period;

 

4)         Compliance with the National Incident Management System;

 

5)         Existence of a current emergency operations plan at each educational facility for which funding is sought;

 

6)         Interoperability with existing equipment (if applicable);

 

7)         Prioritization of projects by the applicant;

 

8)         Sustainability of the project; and

 

9)         The availability of funding.

 

c)         This is a competitive grant program.  IEMA reserves the right to deny any grant applications or to provide reduced funding to any applicant.

 

d)         Funds received under a school safety grant may supplement, but shall not supplant, State or local funds for the same purposes.  Supplanting means using school safety grant funds to replace State or local funds that otherwise would have been spent on the project.

 

e)         Projects must be completed within 12 months after  receipt of the grant award or as otherwise specified in the grant agreement.

 

Section 310.60  Grant Agreement and Reimbursement

 

a)         IEMA shall execute a grant agreement with each applicant to whom a grant is awarded.  The grant agreement shall specify the parties to the grant, the term of the grant, the amount of the grant, that unspent grant funds shall be returned to the State as required by the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act [30 ILCS 705], that the State of Illinois may audit records required to be maintained to verify that grant funds were used for permissible uses under the grant, and that the grant agreement shall cease if funds for the grant are not appropriated by the General Assembly, and any other standard provisions required to be included in grant agreements entered into by the State.

     

b)         Following execution of the grant agreement, a grantee shall submit a copy of documents that verify expenditures or anticipated expenditures to IEMA for review in accordance with the approved application budget.

 

c)         IEMA may either reimburse a grantee for eligible expenditures, as indicated in the grant agreement, or may advance funds to a grantee for eligible expenditures, but only upon the grantee's submission of a bid, invoice or other similar document showing the exact cost of the anticipated expenditure.

 

Section 310.70  Audit and Grant Fund Recovery

 

a)         Grant funds shall be used exclusively for the purposes identified in the grant application and shall be expended in accordance with this Part and the grant agreement. 

 

b)         Grantees shall maintain documentation of expenditures under the grant for a minimum of five years.  Documentation shall be maintained so that it is readily accessible during an audit.

 

c)         The State of Illinois shall have the right to inspect equipment procured and to audit and obtain copies of the books, records, and any other recorded information of the grantee related to grantee expenses for which grantee received compensation under this Part.

 

d)         The State of Illinois shall have the right of recovery of the grant funds in accordance with the provisions and procedures of the Illinois Grant Funds Recovery Act [30 ILCS 705].