MASTRIANO: School Safety Grants Awarded in Local Communities

HARRISBURG – School safety grants totaling $566,961 were awarded today to 11 school districts in the 33rd Senate District, according to State Senator Doug Mastriano (R-33).

School districts that will receive grants include Bermudian Springs ($35,000), Conewago Valley ($45,000), Fairfield ($30,000), Gettysburg ($40,000), Littlestown ($35,000), Upper Adams ($66,461), Shippensburg ($40,000), Chambersburg ($45,000), Waynesboro ($45,000), Hanover ($140,500), and South Western ($45,000).

“Children are our most precious commodity,” said Mastriano. “Protecting our young people and teachers is an ongoing priority that I will continue to fight for in Harrisburg.”

In spite of the popularity and importance of the program, Governor Wolf’s 2020-21 budget proposed to cut $45 million from the program next year, a 75-percent reduction. Senate Republicans have made restoring this funding a top priority in budget negotiations.

“I was very disappointed in many ill-advised components of the Governor’s proposed spending plan, such as his cuts to school safety,” said Mastriano. “Senate Republicans have been able to fund this program with no tax increase the past two years, so cutting the funding levels for this program is absurd.”

Eligible uses for the grants include hiring school security officers, purchasing security-related technology, completing safety and security assessments, implementing violence prevention curricula, offering counseling services for students, and creating other programs to protect students.

The grants were awarded by the School Safety and Security Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) as part of the School Safety and Security Grant Program, which was created by lawmakers in 2018.

A total of approximately $53.7 million was awarded for 524 projects throughout the state in the current round of funding. PCCD received a total of 970 applications totaling $134.5 million for school safety projects in the current Fiscal Year.

 

CONTACT: Scot A. Pitzer; 717.787.4651; spitzer@pasen.gov.

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