Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence Thursday announced school safety awards of more than $10 million allocated to 260 local schools and school corporations across Indiana. The Indiana Secured School Safety Board approved the grants.
Three school systems in Marshall County received Secured School Safety grant money. Argos Community Schools was awarded $35,000 while Bremen Public Schools received $20,000 and the Culver Community Schools were given $23,761.43.
The Secured School Safety Grant program is a dedicated state grant fund that provides matching grants to school corporations, charter schools, or coalitions of school corporations and/or charter schools applying jointly to:Conduct a threat assessment;Purchase equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders; and/or Employ a school resource officer (SRO).
This year’s funding comes from the account’s $3.5 million original allocation, $3.5 million from excess Indiana Department of Homeland Security admin funds, as announced by Governor Pence in early October, and more than $3 million in unspent and unallocated funds from previous years. These carryover funds continue to increase as grants from previous years go unused and the money is returned to the state.
This is the third time Secured School Safety grants have been awarded.
Of the awarded funding, nearly $5 million will be used to purchase equipment and more than $5.1 million will go to employ school resource officers.
