State Senator Randy Head said Friday, “School safety continues to be a top priority for lawmakers as we look for ways to ensure Indiana schools have the necessary tools to protect our students and teachers from harm.”
The Indiana Secured School Safety Board recently approved more than $14 million in matching grants for schools that qualified for the Secured School Safety Grant Program (SSSG).
Head said, “The funds include an additional $5 million allocated by House Enrolled Act 1230, which I supported and the Indiana General Assembly passed earlier this year.”
The SSSG provides matching grants that can be used to employ a school resource officer, conduct a threat assessment, and/or purchase equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders.
Locally, Argos Community Schools were awarded $35,000; Bremen Public Schools $20,000; Culver Community Schools $35,000; Plymouth Community Schools $15,000; Triton School Corporation $24,000 and St. Michael Catholic School $6,770.25.
In addition, Gov. Holcomb recently created a program that will make handheld metal detectors available at no cost to schools that want them. This new program will make one handheld metal detector device available for every 250 students in traditional public, charter and accredited non-public schools by request.
Schools can submit requests by following instructions found here. The first order for the metal detector devices will be placed on July 19 for delivery by mid-August. Orders placed after that date will be fulfilled later in the fall.
Senator Head closed his comments saying, “School safety is of the utmost importance to me, and I hope to see these grants positively impact our students, teachers and schools.”
Click here to view the list of schools that received a grant.
