SAFE School Act

HR 2491, the SAFE School Act, creates a $900 million federal grant program to improve school security in elementary and secondary schools across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The bill funds states and local schools to hire veterans or former law enforcement officers as school safety officers (after state training) and to install security infrastructure like metal detectors, access control systems, bulletproof glass, and emergency alert systems. It prohibits federal interference in how states implement security measures or design training programs, ensuring states maintain flexibility in using the funds. The program explicitly allows funding for both public and private schools, including religiously affiliated institutions, regardless of existing resource officer funding.