U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05) announced today that the Teaneck School District has been awarded a $500,000 federal grant to improve security measures and keep students and teachers safe. The grant was administered through the Justice Department’s School Violence Prevention Program, which was enacted by Congress in the wake of the Parkland school shooting in 2018. Teaneck will use this award to upgrade and install card access control devices, CCTV monitoring cameras, building alarms, and visitor management systems.

“We fought hard to secure this funding and I am thrilled the Teaneck School District received this award because it will help protect our students and teachers,” said Rep. Pascrell, a former history teacher and longtime champion of school safety measures. “Students should be able to focus on history and mathematics without fearing for their safety. With this federal grant, Teaneck can implement rigorous safety and prevention measures to provide its students, parents, and teachers with the peace of mind they deserve. While the current pandemic has upended the traditional school year, today’s federal grant will help ensure that students are protected when they eventually return to the classroom. This is tremendous news for our community.”

"We continue to see far too many heartbreaking tragedies take place in our nation's schools. This federal investment being clawed back from Washington to help Teaneck is a vital step to keeping our students and faculty safe on school grounds, protecting our children against gun violence, supporting Teaneck's law enforcement as they work day in and day out to protect the community, and helping them do their job safely and effectively," said Rep. Gottheimer. "I can imagine no better return on investment than bringing our federal tax dollars back home to help protect our kids and support our law enforcement."

"Creating a safe learning environment for our students and staff is a top priority in our school district," said Dr. Christopher Irving, Superintendent of Teaneck Schools. "This grant will enable us to improve the overall safety, security and health of our schools by upgrading and installing 21st century equipment. I want to thank my staff who submitted this application on our behalf, our Board of Education for their ongoing support of our work, and Congressmen Pascrell and Gottheimer for helping to secure this federal grant for our school district.”

Rep. Pascrell has long championed school safety measures in Congress and is a strong proponent of comprehensive state and federal gun control. Shortly after the Stoneman High School tragedy, Pascrell and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12) offered legislation to reinstate the Obama-era mental health background check for gun purchases that was rolled back by congressional Republicans and repealed by Donald Trump shortly after he entered office. Also in February 2018, Pascrell and Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL-07) reintroduced the Gun Violence Prevention and Safe Communities Act, which aims to combat gun violence through increased federal taxes on guns and ammunition and by closing tax and regulatory loopholes on some of the most popular and deadly firearms. He also helped secure $2.2 million in school safety grants for schools all throughout northern New Jersey in October 2018.