ARAPHOE, Colo. – The U.S. Department of Education has awarded Littleton Public Schools $121,200 to help with ongoing recovery efforts following the shooting death of a student at Arapahoe High School last December.
The immediate services grant, which is being made through the Department’s Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) program and administered by the Office of Safe and Healthy Students, will provide support to students and faculty at Arapahoe High School, as well as the community impacted by the shooting.
“While we can’t take away the pain that tragic incidents such as the one at Arapahoe High School have caused the school and community, we can provide support to the students, faculty and community who were impacted and continue to feel the loss,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said. “These grants will help provide the necessary services needed to restore the learning environment.”
Littleton Public Schools is a suburban school district located approximately an hour outside of Denver. In December 2013, a shooting at Arapahoe High School, which is located in the Littleton Public Schools district, left one student dead. The shooter, who also was a student at Arapahoe High, took his own life. Since that time, administrators and guidance counselors have seen an increase in student absences, health office visits, discipline referrals and suicide and threat assessments. The grant will help cover the cost of counseling services and additional school security.
The Department’s Project SERV grants provide funding for school districts, colleges and universities that have experienced a significant traumatic event and need resources to respond, recover and re-establish safe environments for students. The Office of Safe and Healthy Students has awarded more than $38 million through 119 grants, including Littleton Public Schools, since the program began in 2001.