New federal grant program to help schools penalized for mask mandates

Schools that have been financially penalized for implementing Covid safety measures can restore those funds through a new federal grant program, the U.S. Department of Education announced Thursday.

The grants, called Project SAFE, will allow schools to recoup the funds lost when their states withheld money as punishment for requiring masks indoors, vaccines or other measures intended to stop the spread of Covid. Florida, Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Montana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Iowa are among the states that have banned school mask mandates. Florida has withheld money from two school districts that require masks, and other states have threatened to do so.

California requires students and school staff to wear masks indoors, although it’s up to districts to enforce the order. Parents in some districts are fighting the mandate.

The money for Project SAFE will come from school safety funds in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“Every student across the country deserves the opportunity to return to school in-person safely this fall, and every family should be confident that their school is implementing policies that keep their children safe,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. “We should be thanking districts for using proven strategies that will keep schools open and safe, not punishing them.”