INDIANAPOLIS — Wayne County’s public schools recently secured more than $337,000 for safety upgrades through a state grant.
The Secured School Safety Grant program, supported by state Rep. Brad Barrett (R-Richmond), was created in 2013 as a way for schools to increase safety protocols.
The matching grant allows schools a broad range of uses, including the employment of school resource officers, the ability to conduct site vulnerability assessments and critical incident digital mapping, and the purchase of training materials for firearms, self-defense and K-9s, among other things.
Barrett said in a press release the grants statewide totaled $27 million across 494 schools and is part of the legislature’s investment in school safety this year.
“Students, teachers and parents should be confident their school is a safe place to learn,” he said in the release. “These grants give our local districts the tools they need to update security and respond quickly in an emergency to keep our students safe.”
Schools that received grant money in Wayne County this year are:
To qualify for the grant, schools must have a memorandum of understanding in place with a community mental health center or provider certified or licensed by the state to provide mental or behavioral health services to students, as well as certification to the Department of Homeland Security that it has conducted a site vulnerability assessment for each school building within its corporation.
Barrett’s press release states that since the grant was introduced, the state has invested more than $214 million in school safety through the matching grants.
This article originally appeared on Richmond Palladium-Item: Wayne County schools receive more than $337,000 through Secured School Safety Grant
Reporting by Richmond Palladium-Item / Richmond Palladium-Item
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