Friday, July 13, 2018
School safety continues to be a top priority for the Indiana General Assembly as lawmakers look for ways to ensure 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).
The funds include an additional $5 million allocated by House Enrolled Act 1230, which the 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.
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.
School safety is of the utmost importance to Indiana lawmakers, who hope to see these grants positively impact our students, teachers and schools.
Click here to view the list of schools that received a grant.
