Springfield Schools Get $141K For Safety Enhancements

SPRINGFIELD, PA — Millions in grant funding was awarded to school districts across Pennsylvania for school safety and security enhancements from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, and the Springfield School District got a large cut of the funding.

The Springfield School District received $141,580 in grant funds.

These funds will be used for security planning and purchase of security-related technology, which may include metal detectors, protective lighting, specialty trained canines, surveillance equipment, special emergency communications equipment, automated external defibrillators, electronic locksets, deadbolts, trauma kits and theft control devices and training in the use of security-related technology.

Overall, the commission gave $53.7 million in school safety and security grants to 524 school entities, as well as $7.5 million in community violence prevention/reduction grants to 30 organizations throughout the Pennsylvania.

Schools were eligible to apply for programs designed to reduce community violence, including increasing access to trauma-informed support services and behavioral health care, providing health services and intervention strategies, providing mentoring and other intervention models, and fostering communication between school entities, their community and law enforcement.

Projects were required to support initiatives such as performing school safety assessments; purchasing security-related technology and equipment; supporting school safety-related and behavioral-health trainings; preparing all-hazards plans; hiring school resource officers, school police officers, school counselors, social workers and school psychologists; and providing for trauma-informed approaches to education.