HARRISBURG – Several local schools were awarded state grants today to help improve student safety through a new program supported by Senator Pat Stefano (R-32).
The School Safety and Security Grant Program was created by lawmakers earlier this year to provide grants to school districts, intermediate units, area vocational-technical schools, charter schools and private residential rehabilitative institutions for a wide variety of projects to improve school safety.
Eligible uses for the grants include hiring school security officers, purchasing security-related technology, completing safety and security assessments, implementing violence prevention curricula, offering counseling services for students, and creating other programs to protect students.
Each local school district that applied through the program was awarded a grant of $25,000.
Local grant recipients include:
- Albert Gallatin Area School District,
- Brownsville Area School District,
- Connellsville Area School District,
- Frazier School District,
- Laurel Highlands School District,
- Uniontown Area School District,
- Berlin Brothersvalley School District,
- Conemaugh Township Area School District,
- Meyersdale Area School District,
- North Star School District,
- Rockwood Area School District,
- Salisbury-Elk Lick School District,
- Shade-Central City School District,
- Shanksville-Stonycreek School District,
- Somerset Area School District,
- Turkeyfoot Valley Area School District,
- Windber Area School District,
- Belle Vernon Area School District,
- Monessen City School District,
- Mount Pleasant Area School District,
- Southmoreland School District.
“These grants would not have been possible without the bipartisan cooperation of lawmakers and the valuable input of schools, teachers, students, law enforcement, and other experts in school safety,” Stefano said. “Protecting our schools was a point of emphasis for me during the budget process, and I am grateful that our local schools will soon see the benefits of this new grant program.”
The new program was created as part of a comprehensive school safety bill that was signed into law in June. More than $60 million in new funding was dedicated in the current year’s budget to improve school safety, the Senator said.
More information on school safety measures under consideration in the General Assembly is available online at https://www.pasenategop.com/school-safety/.
Contact: Ben Wren bwren@pasen.gov (717) 787-7175