Local Schools Receive Safety Grants From New State Program

Several Erie County schools in the 49th Senatorial District were awarded state grants today (October 30) to help improve student safety through a new program supported by Senator Dan Laughlin.

“Increased school safety funding is something that I believed was needed and I pushed for it to be included in the FY 2018-19 budget. School safety is an issue that has been at the forefront of public opinion across the Commonwealth and I am glad that my request did not fall on deaf ears,” Senator Laughlin said. “I truly believe that this funding is a good start to address some of the concerns I have heard from my constituents regarding the safety of their children and grandchildren here in Erie County and across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

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: Erie Area School District, Fairview Area School District, Fort LeBoeuf School District, General McLane School District, Girard School District, Harbor Creek School District, Iroquois School District, Millcreek Township School District, North East School District, Northwestern School District and Wattsburg Area School District.

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.

More information on school safety measures under consideration in the General Assembly is available online at https://www.pasenategop.com/school-safety/.

Contact:         Matt Azeles                 mazeles@pasen.gov

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