The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) was recently awarded the Supporting America’s School Infrastructure (SASI) Grant. The purpose of the grant is to increase PDE’s capacity to support high-need districts and schools in leveraging other available federal, state, and local resources to improve school facilities and environments. By identifying what resources are necessary for these districts, PDE hopes these public-school infrastructure improvements will create facilities that are safe, healthy, sustainable, and equitable learning environments for all students.
Pennsylvania was awarded the SASI grant along with eight other states. Though no pass-through funds are available directly to school districts, the department is committed to assisting high-need districts via this USDE supported opportunity.
PDE Goals of SASI
To assist low-income, high-need, school districts in capacity building professional development designed to develop best practices in maintaining and upgrading aging school facilities.
To provide consultative services to high-need districts via professional technical architectural services regarding industry trends and frequently asked questions within the discipline of school construction including but not limited to design parameters, cost trends, and educational specifications.
To facilitate connections between district personnel and other high-need districts, professional organizations, government agencies, and research universities to enhance the facility review process and share best practices.
To obtain financial resources for high-need districts to address facility deficiencies.
To ascertain via third-party review the level of facility deficiencies in order to quantify aggregate need across all high-need districts.
PDE Requirements – identify a cohort of eligible high need LEAs
Districts at or above 25% Census Bureau Low Income, as defined as eligible percentage of students under section 1124(c) of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. 6333(c))
Contact Us
Bureau of Budget and Fiscal Management, Division of School Facilities
607 South Drive, Harrisburg, PA 17120
717-787-5993 | RA-SchoolFacilities@pa.gov
Erin Derr – School Facilities Advisor, jder@pa.gov
Adam Becker – Administrative Assistant, adabecker@pa.gov
Jim Vogel - Part time credentialed Architect, jvogel@pa.gov
Please Note: Since Jim is part time, he does not respond to emails daily, please copy Erin Derr at jder@pa.gov.