Iowa promised $75 million for school safety. Two shootings later, the money is largely unspent

The June 2022 announcement was addressed to parents horrified by the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas: Iowa would spend $75 million in federal pandemic relief funds to improve school building security.

Citing an urgent need to act after Uvalde and shootings outside a high school and a church in Iowa, Gov. Kim Reynolds said the state would award up to $50,000 each to 1,500 schools to fix vulnerabilities. Like many other Republicans, she rebuffed calls for stricter gun control while embracing efforts to “harden” schools.

More than 19 months and two deadly Iowa school shootings later, the money only recently started to trickle out, with the vast majority still unspent in part due to bureaucratic delays by local and state officials, according to records reviewed by The Associated Press. Contractors helping run the program, meanwhile, have received millions.

The AP found that most schools statewide have yet to receive funding, including those in Perry, a city of 8,000 people where a Jan. 4 school shooting left two dead and several injured. A state agency last week sent a representative to help Perry district officials finish their application for a $150,000 grant through Reynolds' program, a process they started more than a year ago.

“After the tragedy in Perry, we are continuing to look for opportunities to make the process more efficient and effective,” said Allie Bright, spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, which oversees the program.

Perry's $150,000 is among $20.6 million the state has awarded for upgrades at hundreds of school buildings across Iowa, but payments for completed work have been far less to date. State spending data updated this month shows the