WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today announced a $292,976 grant was awarded to the Kansas City, KS public school system to increase reading achievement.

The grant will be used to fund Zap the Gap: Read to Succeed, a year-round program designed to improve literacy through the school and summer months. The program increases reading achievement of all 17,085 students in the district’s 37 schools by providing students access to reading resources and materials and increasing recreational reading.

The funds were made available by the United States Department of Education’s Literacy & School Libraries Program. The program helps schools improve reading achievement by providing up-to-date library materials, media resources and technology.

Senator Roberts is a senior member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.