A new grant benefiting Butler Area School District, among others, is meant to help reduce gun violence and increase after-school initiatives for at-risk youth across the state.

The district has been awarded a $500,000 BOOST grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to help improve safety.

More than $65 million was awarded statewide through 177 grants. BOOST stands for Building Opportunities through Out-of-School Time.

“The crux of it is building up that out of school time and we were invited to apply to it,” said Laura Miller, director of curriculum. “We wrote the application to hopefully expand Broad Street (Elementary School) and after-school and potential summer programs to work with students on foundational skills.”