AUSTIN (KXAN) — On Tuesday, Texas government officials announced a transfer of $105.5 million to support additional school safety and mental health initiatives through August 2023.

Speaker Dade Phelan’s office confirmed the $105.5 million was coming from the Texas Education Agency’s general fund because of a surplus for the Foundation School Program. The $105.5 million in funding will not affect current school programs.

According to a release, $100.5 million will be transferred to state agencies and programs to enhance school safety and mental health services in Uvalde and throughout Texas. The funding will provide:

  • $50 million for bullet-resistant shields
  • $5.8 million to expand the Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine (TCHATT) statewide
  • $4.7 million to the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to increase Multisystemic Therapy (MST) across the state
  • $950,000 to HHSC to expand Coordinated Specialty Care (CSC) teams across the state
  • $7 million for rapid response training by the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center and $3 million for local law enforcement agencies to offset travel expenditures associated with the training
  • $7 million to the Texas School Safety Center for on-site campus assessments to evaluate access control measures
  • $17.1 million for school districts to purchase silent panic alert technology
  • $5 million to the Texas Department of Public Safety to expand fusion center research and capabilities

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Dade Phelan, Senate Finance Committee Chair Joan Huffman and House Appropriations Committee Chair Dr. Greg Bonnen made the announcement.

“This additional funding will boost actions the State of Texas has already taken to make schools safer and support the mental health of children, teachers, and families following the tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde,” the release said.

An additional $5 million was approved for use by the Hill Country Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities (MHDD) Center to assist in evaluating mental health services in the Uvalde community and preparing a needs assessment for the legislature, according to state officials.

Read the proposal letter from state leadership and the approval letter from Abbott.