By Josh Sigler
jsigler@thepaperofwabash.com
WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – The Indiana Secured School Safety Board recently approved more than $14 million in matching grants to enhance school security by allowing local school corporations to add resource officers, equipment and conduct threat assessments.
During the board meeting, applications were approved for 388 schools, including all three Wabash County districts and St. Bernard Catholic School, that qualified for the Secured School Safety Grant program. Each school must produce a 50 percent match to qualify.
Wabash City Schools was approved for $30,000, as was Manchester Community Schools. Metropolitan School District of Wabash County was approved for $25,000, and St. Bernard was approved for $18,706.48.
“Indiana continues to be a national leader in the safety and preparedness of our schools,” said Bryan Langley, board chair and executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. “With support from Gov. Eric Holcomb and legislators, this funding will continue that trend to support schools as they plan and implement safety measures to protect students, educators, administrators and visitors.”
The funds include an additional $5 million approved by the Indiana General Assembly at the governor’s request. With the recent board approval, the Indiana Secured School Safety Grant program has provided more than $53 million since 2014 to enhance safety and security in schools.
The Indiana Secured School Safety Grant program was created in 2013 to support initiatives to ensure schools are safe and secure.
The program supports a dedicated state grant fund that provides matching grants to school corporations, accredited non-public schools, charter schools or a coalition of school corporations and/or charter schools applying jointly to employ a school resource officer, conduct a threat assessment, purchase equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders.
School corporations, charter schools or coalitions with an average daily membership of at least 1,000 can apply for grants up to $50,000 annually. Schools with membership of less than 1,000 can apply for grants up to $35,000 per year.
Additionally, on Monday, July 9, Holcomb announced a new program that will make handheld metal detectors available at no cost to schools that want them.
“Controlling what comes into our school buildings is just one part of keeping our schools safe, and our efforts to assist school corporations most be ongoing and evolving,” Gov. Holcomb said. “Local officials are best positioned to determine their school safety needs and the measures that make sense for their students and communities, and – for many – these handheld metal detectors could make a substantial difference.”
Beginning Monday, the Indiana State Police and Department of Administration will coordinate the handheld metal detector program. This new program will make one handheld metal detector device available for every 250 students in a traditional public, charter and accredited non-public schools by request.
Schools can submit requests at www.in.gov/idoa/3134.htm. IDOA will place the first orders for the metal detector devices on July 19 for delivery by mid-August. Orders placed after that date will be fulfilled later in the fall.