By SAMANTHA HENDRICKSON Associated Press/Report For America, and staff
COLUMBUS – Schools in central Ohio are getting almost $7 million from the state for security upgrades, part of the $47 million in grants for over 1,100 schools in 81 counties
The state will also accept applications for another $53 million in that grant program, announced yesterday by Gov. Mike DeWine during the Ohio School Safety Summit.
The K-12 schools sharing in the $47 million applied when the program was launched last year with an initial $5 million but didn’t receive grants then.
They’re getting up to $50,000 each for physical safety upgrades, such as security cameras, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems and exterior lighting.
When combined with the grant funds handed out during the first round in 2021, the seven counties in the Columbus area will have received a total of $6.81 million with Franklin County getting the largest single amount — $4.72 million. Among districts receiving the largest amounts, the Columbus City schools will get $942,780 and the Dublin City Schools will get $661,493.
Other districts around the state receiving the most money include $1.6 million Cleveland, over $900,000 for Cincinnati, $800,000 for Springfield, and over $600,000 for Akron, and Lakota, north of Cincinnati.
DeWine had announced plans to provide more money for school security upgrades in the days after the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The larger pool for this year’s grants is supported by federal pandemic relief funding the state received through the American Rescue Plan Act.
While there’s “nothing magical” about the total $100 million, it’s a good place to start with basic safety needs, the Republican governor said.
DeWine said his administration wants to ensure that every school “has the basic, basic minimum, at least, of school safety functions.”
Schools that didn’t apply or receive grants through the program are slated to get priority when the state begins accepting applications in the coming weeks for the remaining $53 million.