Tester announces assistance for Great Falls Public Schools

3-year Defense Department grant will help military families deployed overseas

(U.S. SENATE) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today announced that the Great Falls Public School District will receive a significant grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to help children of deployed troops adjust in public school.

The Great Falls district said the grant will fund its Transition Resource Opportunities Offered to Parents and Students (TROOPS) support program.   The TROOPS program will "ease transitions, reduce isolation, and offer coping strategies for elementary and middle school students from military families in the Great Falls Public Schools."

The three-year Department of Defense Education Activity Grant totals $675,000.  

Tester, who in March wrote in support of the Great Falls School District's grant request, said the funding is an important investment in military families.

"As America's troops fulfill their responsibilities overseas, it is our responsibility to make sure their families have the resources they need here at home," said Tester, Montana's only member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.  "This grant will go a long way in helping military families meet the additional needs they have when moms or dads are away serving our country.  Serving military families and making sure their kids get the most out of public school is part of the promise we owe our troops."

Tester's letter in support of grant funding for the TROOPS program is online HERE.