Photo: ofcc.ohio.gov
(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine today awarded $4.8 million in grants to nearly 100 Ohio schools to help them improve the overall safety and security of their buildings.
Ninety-eight schools in 27 counties will implement safety upgrades with funding from Ohio's K-12 School Safety Grant Program. Governor DeWine launched the program through the Ohio School Safety Center to help local schools with costly safety upgrades to their buildings.
“I care deeply about every child in Ohio, and this will help ensure that more students are learning in an environment where they can feel safe and secure,” said Governor DeWine. “Today's kids are tomorrow's leaders, and we applaud the school districts that are proactively looking for ways to protect both their students and staff."
Funds will be used to cover expenses associated with physical security enhancements such as security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, and visitor badging systems.
Ohio's K-12 School Safety Grant Program is administered by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) in partnership with the Ohio School Safety Center. The program is funded with an appropriation in Senate Bill 310 of the 133rd General Assembly.
“School safety is largely about prevention and planning and these grants will help schools increase their efforts,” said OFCC Executive Director Cheryl J. Lyman. “We appreciate the Ohio legislature providing the funding and look forward to their continued support as we work to assist more schools across the state in the future.”
The K-12 School Safety Grant Program is one of two new school safety programs first launched by the Ohio School Safety Center in 2021. As part of the Campus Safety Grant Program, 27 institutions of higher education in Ohio also received grants to fund security enhancements on their campuses.
Governor DeWine created the Ohio School Safety Center in 2019. It is housed in the Ohio Homeland Security Division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety and works to assist local schools, colleges, universities, and law enforcement agencies to prevent, prepare for, and respond to threats and acts of violence, including self-harm, through a holistic, solutions-based approach to improving school safety.
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