TRENTON – Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) today announced grants to improve school security and address lead in drinking water in public preschools, charter schools, and renaissance schools. These grant programs will provide critical resources to schools and help them comply with Alyssa’s Law, N.J.S.A. 18A:41-10, and support lead remediation efforts.
“The best public education system in America is here in New Jersey, and we need to ensure that our students and educators have the necessary tools for students to grow and thrive,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “By investing in school security and lead remediation, we are investing in critical improvements in our schools and creating safe and healthy learning environments for students across our state.”
“One of our greatest responsibilities is providing children with safe and healthy learning environments,” said Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan, Acting Commissioner of Education. “The initiatives that we’re announcing today will bring about safety improvements to benefit more students in even more schools.”
Three separate grant initiatives are being announced:
School districts, charter schools and renaissance school projects that are eligible for the funding can apply online through the DOE’s website. The application deadline for each of the grants is October 13, 2021.
As part of the programs, DCA is encouraging landlords to agree to a reasonable payment plan for any rent arrears and rent not covered by the rental assistance and commit to not filing for eviction for non-payment of rent during the term of the assistance.
In addition to the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Eviction Prevention Program, the State introduced critical eviction protections for renter households that have experienced economic hardships during the pandemic. To find out more about current eviction protections available and how to self-certify for these protections, people can visit .
The funding milestone announced today is in addition to the $91.75 million that DCA distributed to 15,000 households in the first phase of the CVERAP program last year.
DCA offers a wide range of programs and services, including local government management and finance, affordable housing production, fire safety, building safety, community planning and development, and disaster recovery and mitigation.