HARRISBURG – School safety grants totaling more than $1.5 million were awarded today to eight school districts in Washington, Greene and Beaver counties, according to Senator Camera Bartolotta (R-46).
School districts that were awarded grants include:
- Hopewell Area School District.
- West Greene School District.
- Bentworth School District.
- Burgettstown Area School District.
- California Area School District.
- Charleroi School District.
- Ringgold School District.
- Trinity Area School District.
The grants were awarded by the School Safety and Security Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) as part of the School Safety and Security Grant Program, which was created by lawmakers in 2018.
“It is critical for all local schools to evaluate how we can better protect students and make our school buildings a safe environment for learning, and I applaud all of the local districts who submitted applications for this program to boost school safety,” Bartolotta said. “I am hopeful that we can continue to fund this grant program to help all of our schools meet their own unique safety 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 a meritorious 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.
A total of $7.5 million in grants were also awarded for community violence prevention initiatives.
CONTACT: Katrina Hanna (717) 787-1463