Shenandoah, Hazleton schools awarded school safety grant
By Kaylee Lindenmuth
SHENANDOAH – A pair of school districts in our area were awarded school safety grants, according to a news release from Senator David G. Argall’s office.
Shenandoah Valley was awarded a $38,000 grant, and Hazleton Area a $57,069 grant.
The grants are awarded through the School Safety and Security Grant program, created last year.
“We have an obligation, a duty to protect our children, educators and staff in the classroom,” Argall said. “I chaired ten public roundtable discussion last year with state officials, safety experts, concerned citizens and school officials to discuss the best ways to protect our schools. School districts can now use this grant money to protect their schools in a way that is individualized to their needs”.
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.
A total of approximately $40 million was awarded for 234 projects throughout the state in the current round of funding. In total, the School Safety and Security Grant Program will provide $52.5 million in school safety grants and $7.5 million in community violence prevention grants in the current Fiscal Year.
Every school district in the state that submitted an application was awarded a $25,000 grant last October to improve school safety. The grants announced today were awarded on a competitive basis to schools that were seeking additional funding beyond the original grant.
PCCD received a total of 638 applications totaling $177.6 million for school safety projects in the current Fiscal Year.
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