Safety grants boost security for schools

Gov. Mike DeWine has awarded another $42 million to support building safety and security upgrades at hundreds of Ohio schools, including the dozens of districts in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.

The money is going toward new security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems and exterior lighting.

A total of 624 schools will receive funding as part of the fifth round of Ohio's K-12 School Safety Grant Program. This new round of funding, however, brings the total number of schools served by this program to 2,789 and the total amount of funding awarded to more than $215 million.

"Our educators care deeply about the safety of Ohio students, as evidenced by the thousands of schools that came forward with solid security improvement plans that they intend to carry out with this funding," DeWine said.

"There is nothing more important than the safety of our kids, and with today's announcement, every qualifying school that applied for a grant has now received at least one award, including schools in all 88 counties," he said.

DeWine partnered with the Ohio General Assembly to launch the K-12 School Safety Grant Program in 2021. The program was created to help schools pay for physical security expenses.

The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission administered the program in partnership with the Ohio School Safety Center. The program was funded through Ohio's operating budget and with allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act.

Here is a breakdown of total awards -- that is, for all five rounds of funding -- to Trumbull County school districts, according to DeWine's office:

TRUMBULL

Bloomfield-Mespo -- $100,000

Bristol -- $62,500

Brookfield -- $221,466

Girard -- $400,000

Hubbard -- $299,999

John F Kennedy Catholic Upper Campus -- $46,000

John F. Kennedy Catholic Lower Campus -- $70,000

LaBrae -- $15,258

Lakeview -- $46,700

Liberty -- $300,000

Lordstown-- $100,000

Maplewood -- $189,813

Mathews -- $378,500

McDonald -- $100,884

Newton Falls -- $400,000

Niles -- $270,000

Southington -- $100,000

Trumbull Career & Technical Center -- $86,000

Victory Christian -- $100,000

Warren -- $493,064