The U.S. Department of Education announced Project School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) grants to four Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that were disrupted by bomb threats last year: Texas Southern University, Delaware State University, Claflin University, and Howard University.

Austin colleges and universities are using a new grant from the Central Texas Food Bank to help tackle food insecurity on campus. The Central Texas Food Bank awarded about $50,000 in food grants to four colleges in Central Texas through the College Food Access Grant to support institutions of higher education and their efforts to build “campus food systems that allow all students to participate and thrive.” 

The University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) in San Antonio and the Karnes City Independent School District (ISD) have been awarded grants totaling more than $2.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Program to train school counselors, social workers, psychologists, or other mental health professionals qualified to provide school-based mental health services.

The U.S. Department of Education announced it will distribute another $1.5 million in federal Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant funds to the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District in Texas, where 19 children and two educators were killed in a mass shooting in 2022. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona issued a statement exactly one year since the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Cardona noted the significant needs of the community, investments in school safety and mental health, and continued support to help students, families, and educators cope with the grief and trauma.  

Federal, state and local leaders discussed how to prevent targeted school violence, including best practices for identifying, assessing, and intervening when a student shows signs of concerning behavior.