Seven districts from Bucks or Eastern Montgomery counties, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit and Upper Bucks County Technical School were among the recipients.
Seven school districts from Bucks or Eastern Montgomery counties, the Bucks County Intermediate Unit and Upper Bucks County Technical School in Bedminster were recently among the recipients of $40 million in school safety grants from the state.
Area school districts awarded grants were Abington, $80,100; Bristol Township,$144,000; Council Rock, $48,000; Hatboro-Horsham, $152,280; North Penn,$289,488; Palisades, $131,500 and Souderton Area, $74,975.
The Bucks County IU was awarded $99,560 and Upper Bucks Technical $9,500. The grants came from The School Safety and Security Committee of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
In all, 234 school entities across the state received grants that can be used for hiring school security officers, purchasing security-related technology, completing safety and security assessments, implementing violence prevention curricula, offering more counseling services for students and other areas.
“We are excited and grateful to receive the PCCD grant,” Bristol Township School District Superintendent Melanie Gehrens said. “The funds will allows us to do even more to achieve the district’s goal of creating a school culture in which students, staff and other members of the community feel personally, physically and emotionally safe.”
A total of 638 applications totaling $177.6 million were received, PCCD officials said in a news release.
“This illustrates that we must continue to fund this vital program,” said state Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R‑35, chairman of the State Education Committee.
“I will be advocating for additional dollars to go to this program during the state budget conversations.”
Gov. Tom Wolf said the grants are the “mechanism we need to create local strategies that will increase safety for our children and our teachers and prevent violence in classrooms and communities across the commonwealth.
“Schools should be safe, secure places for our children to focus on their education and on preparing themselves for a lifetime of success, not another place we need to worry about sending our children,” he said. “Awarding these grants to more than 200 schools means a safer Pennsylvania.”
State Rep. Wendi Thomas, R‑178, of Northampton, a former Council Rock school board member, said she was grateful for the additional money to bolster the district’s security and wanted to “encourage other school districts in Bucks County to reach out to this valuable resource.”
State Rep. Wendy Ullman, D‑143, of Plumstead added “nothing is more important than our children’s safety.” Her legislative district includes Palisades.
Reprinted from the Bucks County Courier Times
Written By Chris English
Posted and updated by the Courier Times May 6, 2019 at 2:54 PM