U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige today announced that the U.S. Department of Education is providing $250,000 to Maryland's Department of Education to help students and teachers directly impacted by the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in nearby Arlington, Va.

The funds can be used to provide counseling for students and teachers, hire substitute teachers, add to security, clean up damaged schools, retain experts in long-term crisis planning, and rent space or transport students if needed. Paige offered broad support that will help schools deal with the crisis on an immediate and long-term basis. He also urged teachers to help students cope with the terrorist attacks, and encouraged students to discuss their thoughts and feelings about the events of the past 10 days.

"There are children and teachers in Maryland schools who lost loved ones in the tragic attack on the Pentagon," Paige said. "I am proud that we can give the schools of Maryland immediate and substantial assistance to provide counseling and other services for children, families and teachers. This type of support now, as well as continuing help, will help Maryland's communities as they deal with the loss this area has suffered." The department has offered support to other states and cities including Connecticut, New Jersey, New York City, New York State, Virginia and Washington, D.C. — to help school districts directly impacted by the terrorist attacks.

On Monday, President Bush and Secretary Paige announced a $4 million grant to the New York City Board of Education to help students and schools recover from the attacks on the World Trade Center. More than one million students attend school in New York City where several schools located near to the World Trade Center site remain closed. On Wednesday, Secretary Paige announced $500,000 in support for impacted schools in Virginia.

The grants are part of the department's Project SERV, intended to provide assistance such as counseling services to local school districts that have experienced a traumatic event. The program was created with a $10 million appropriation from Congress. The department will also provide other forms of assistance and support to these school districts as they develop long-range trauma response plans to help the members of their school communities. In addition to offering grants and other support services to directly impacted school districts, the Department of Education has developed suggestions for parents, educators and other caring adults to help them meet the needs of all children in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks. These suggestions and links to other Web resources are listed on the Department of Education's Web site at http://www.ed.gov/inits/september11/index.html.

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