IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The June 2022 announcement was addressed to parents horrified by the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas: Iowa would spend $75 million in federal pandemic relief funds to improve school building security.
Citing an urgent need to act after Uvalde and shootings outside a high school and a church in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state would award up to $50,000 each to 1,500 schools to fix vulnerabilities. Like many other Republicans, she rebuffed calls for stricter gun control while embracing efforts to “harden” schools.
More than 19 months and two deadly Iowa school shootings later, the money only recently started to trickle out, with the vast majority still unspent. This was partly because local officials struggled to meet state and federal requirements to complete their applications, according to records reviewed by The Associated Press. Contractors helping run the program, meanwhile, have received millions.
The AP found that most schools statewide have yet to receive funding, including those in Perry, a city of 8,000 people where a Jan. 4 school shooting left two dead and several injured. A state agency last week sent a representative to help Perry district officials finish their application for a $150,000 grant through Reynolds’ program. The district had started the process more than a year ago but didn’t complete the paperwork.
“After the tragedy in Perry, we are continuing to look for opportunities to make the process more efficient and effective,” said Allie Bright, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which oversees the program.
Kollin Crompton, a spokesperson for the governor, noted that until a district submits an application, the state cannot take any action.
Perry’s $150,000 is among $20.6 million the state has awarded for upgrades at hundreds of school buildings across Iowa, but payments for completed work have been far less to date. Bright said Friday that as of Jan. 19, the program had paid $950,000 to 18 school districts for improvements at 43 buildings, most of them small and rural.
The district in Gilbert received the most, $194,000, which went toward surveillance cameras, new entry systems and door controls. Winfield Mount Union Community School District, which recently announced it will cut back to a four-day school week in the next academic year, added cameras and panic…