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USD 453 board adopts Kansas Homeland Security Region L hazard mitigation plan
Summary
Leavenworth USD 453 formally adopted the Kansas Homeland Security Region L Hazard Mitigation Plan to maintain eligibility for federal mitigation grant programs; the district’s adoption commits it to the plan’s goals but does not obligate specific spending until projects are proposed and competitively selected.
The Board of Education of Unified School District 453 adopted the Kansas Homeland Security Region L Hazard Mitigation Plan on April 2025 to maintain eligibility for federal mitigation grants, board members said at the April meeting.
The resolution — titled the Kansas Homeland Security Region L Hazard Mitigation Plan adoption resolution — says an adopted hazard mitigation plan is required for future funding under Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) pre- and post-disaster mitigation grant programs. Chuck McGaha, who presented the plan overview, told the board the plan is a five‑year, goal‑oriented document intended to guide mitigation projects and that individual projects would be competitively applied for and would require local cost share if selected.
Nut graf: The adoption enables USD 453 to submit an official adoption resolution to the Kansas Division of Emergency Management and FEMA Region 7, a required step for jurisdictions that want to remain eligible to apply for mitigation grants after federally declared disasters.
Board discussion focused on how projects are funded if a mitigation application is successful. A board member asked whether the district receives mitigation dollars directly; McGaha explained that grants are competitive and that, if a project is approved, the typical cost share in statute is 75% federal and 25% local. He cautioned that the actual dollar amount the district would pay depends on the project size and that the Stafford Act currently sets the 75/25 split.
The presenter described the plan as a large, multi‑jurisdiction document (the full plan is several hundred pages) and said it lists potential mitigation projects ranging from staff‑time efforts to capital projects such as installing backup generators at schools. McGaha said adoption is a statement of the district’s commitment and does not itself obligate immediate expenditures; projects would be proposed later and would be subject to competitive application and local budgeting.
The board moved to adopt the resolution and approved it on the voice vote recorded at the meeting. The presenter thanked the board when the motion passed.
