WASHINGTON—The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee today voted to pass the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013, which includes an amendment authored by U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) that would authorize federal funds to assist with the construction of a new Sandy Hook Elementary School. The underlying bill, which reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), next heads to the full Senate for consideration.   

“This is encouraging news for Newtown and the students, teachers, and faculty of Sandy Hook Elementary. Since that terrible morning in December, the families of the victims and the entire Newtown community have been tested to the very limits of human grief,” said Murphy. “And through the pain and suffering, Newtown has come together to heal, and America has been behind this community the whole way. So when a major tragedy like this occurs, we feel a responsibility as a country to help. Now that this amendment is in place, I hope that my colleagues in the full Senate will agree that the little boys and girls at Sandy Hook Elementary shouldn’t be asked to walk the same halls where their classmates were slaughtered.”

Murphy’s amendment would allow the Department of Education to provide grant funding for schools to construct new buildings, undergo renovations, or purchase a new building after traumatic events such as mass shootings. It is modeled on the existing School Emergency Response to Violence (Project SERV) grant program, which provides funds to help school districts recover from a violent or traumatic event through projects intended to help restore a sense of safety and security, but cannot be used for building construction.

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