Pennsylvania School Safety Grant Winners Announced
$6.5 million in competitive grants have been awarded for the training and compensation of SROs and school police officers, and to prevent and reduce violence.
HARRISBURG, Pa.,—Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro A. Rivera announced on Friday that $6.5 million in competitive grants have been awarded for the training and compensation of school resource officers and school police officers, and to prevent and reduce violent incidents through programs and security equipment.
The focus of the Safe Schools Initiative Targeted Grant program is to assist schools in:
- Reducing unnecessary student disciplinary actions and promoting an environment of greater productivity, safety and learning;
- Enhancing antiviolence efforts between schools and parents, local governments, law enforcement and community organizations.
To provide funding for the training and compensation of SROs and school police officers, $3.9 million was awarded to 32 school entities, municipalities and police departments for the first year through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant and 39 school entities, municipalities and police departments in their second year of the grant. First year applicants were eligible for a maximum individual grant of $60,000 for a school resource officer and $40,000 for a school police officer. Second year grantees received $30,000 for a school resource officer and $20,000 for a school police officer.
To establish and implement programs to prevent and reduce violent incidents and to procure security/safety-related equipment, $2.6 million was awarded to 125 public school entities through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant. Public school entities were eligible to receive up to $25,000 to fund programs or security-related equipment, including student, staff and visitor identification systems; metal detectors; protective lighting; surveillance equipment; special emergency communications equipment; electronic locksets; deadbolts and theft control devices; and training in the use of the security-related technology.
The top 2016-2017 county and school district awardees who were awarded $25,000 are:
- Allegheny: North Allegheny SD, Penn Hills SD and Sto-Rox SD
- Armstrong: Armstrong SD
- Beaver: Hopewell ASD
- Blair: Spring Cove SD
- Cambria: Forest Hills SD
- Clarion: North Clario County SD
- Clearfield: West Branch Area SD
- Elk: Saint Marys Area SD
- Fayette: Albert Gallatin SD and Uniontown Area SD
- Lackawanna: Valley View SD
- Lancaster: Lancaster SD,
- Lawrence: Lawrence County CTC, Shenango Area SD and Laurel SD
- Luzerne: Luzerne IU 18
- Mercer: Sharon City SD
- Monroe:Monroe Career and Tech, and Pocono Mountain SD
- Montgomery: Abington SD
- Northampton: Bethlehem ASD
- Philadelphia: West Oak Lane CS and Maritime Academy CS
- Snyder: Selinsgrove Area SD
- Somerset: Shanksville-Stonycreek SD and Somerset Conemaugh Township ASD
- Susquehanna: Forest City Regional SD and Mountain View SD
- Washington: Intermediate Unit 1
- Westmoreland: Yough SD and Eastern Westmoreland CTC
Read the complete list of awardees.
If you appreciated this article and want to receive more valuable industry content like this, click here to sign up for our FREE digital newsletters!
Related Content
Leading in Turbulent Times: Effective Campus Public Safety Leadership for the 21st Century
This new webcast will discuss how campus public safety leaders can effectively incorporate Clery Act, Title IX, customer service, “helicopter” parents, emergency notification, town-gown relationships, brand management, Greek Life, student recruitment, faculty, and more into their roles and develop the necessary skills to successfully lead their departments. Register today to attend this free webcast!
