Harrisburg – Fourteen area school districts were awarded state grants today to help improve student safety through a new program supported by State Senator John DiSanto (Dauphin/Perry).
The School Safety and Security Grant Program was created by lawmakers earlier this year to provide grants to schools 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:
Dauphin County
- Central Dauphin School District
- Derry Township School District
- Halifax Area School District
- Harrisburg City School District
- Lower Dauphin School District
- Millersburg Area School District
- Susquehanna Township School District
- Upper Dauphin Area School District
- Williams Valley School District
Perry County
- Fannett-Metal School District
- Greenwood School District
- Newport School District
- Susquenita School District
- West Perry School District
“Students can’t learn and teachers can’t teach in an environment that’s not safe. That’s why I joined the bipartisan effort to provide schools with the resources they need to boost security,” DiSanto said. “It’s important that local districts choose the measures that are right for their students and staff. Each district is different, and they have been developing security plans tailored to their schools.”
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 the General Assembly’s efforts to improve school safety measures is available online at https://www.pasenategop.com/school-safety/.
CONTACT: Chuck Erdman 717-787-6801 cerdman@pasen.gov