(Indianapolis, IN) – The Indiana Secured School Safety Board has approved the distribution of more than $27.1 million to support school safety initiatives in 494 schools and districts across the state.
Last year, 499 schools split an allocation of $24 million, of which $17 million was allocated to funding school resource officers.
This year, the total amount of eligible funding requests exceeded the amount of funding for the program. Priority was given to first-time applicant schools to the SSSG Program, which were fully funded for their top priority requests.
Charter school groups were capped at $100,000 in funding for all schools in the group.
Remaining schools that apply to the fund regularly were funded at 92% for their top priority items. Applicants to the program rank the priority of items to help the Board better understand the greatest need for school districts.
Local recipients and amounts are listed below in alphabetical order:
- Batesville Community School Corporation – $92,500
- Decatur County Community Schools – $64,527.08
- Franklin County Community School Corporation – $92,500
- Greensburg Community Schools – $92,500
- Jac-Cen-Del Community School Corporation – $46,250
- Milan Community Schools – $23,125
- Oldenburg Academy – $25,900
- St. Michael School (Brookville) – $44,955
- South Ripley Community School Corporation – $66,600
- Southeastern Career Center – $46,250
- Sunman-Dearborn Community School Corporation – $92,500
To date, more than $214 million in state funding has been dedicated to the matching grant program since it was created in 2013, and the Board has approved 4,599 grant requests.
“School safety is a top priority for my administration. Every student deserves a good education, and that starts with feeling safe and secure,” said Gov. Mike Braun. “That’s why Indiana continues to make unprecedented investments through the Secured School Safety Grant (SSSG) Program.”
“As a former school resource officer, I know first-hand the importance of the Secured School Safety Grants,” said Julie Q. Smith, director of the Office of School Safety. “Under Governor Braun’s leadership, we are proud to be able to fund nearly $20 million of school resource officers across the state, amongst a number of other important projects that fortify our school buildings and enhance the security and safety of our students.”
The Secured School Safety Grant Program is administered by the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. For security reasons, the use of those funds by individual schools is not publicly available.
The SSSG issues matching grants for eligible items and then schools match those funds at a certain level, either 25 percent, 50 percent or 100 percent. The match requirement is based on average daily membership of the school district, the total amount of the project or what the request covers.
Eligible items in the grant include funding for school resource officers (SROs) and law enforcement officers in schools; equipment and technology; active event warning systems (no matching requirement); firearms training for teachers and staff that choose to allow guns on school property; threat assessments and to implement a student and parent support services program.
The Indiana School Safety Hub also provides schools with a wealth of resources, training opportunities and other information designed to give schools the tools they need to keep students and staff safe.
Click here to see the complete list of schools receiving grants.
