COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that $47 million in grants would be awarded to schools across the state to fund safety-related expenses, including several schools in Allen, Auglaize and Putnam counties.
DeWine said 1,183 schools in 81 counties will receive up to $50,000 each in grant funding to help cover safety-related expenses like security cameras, automatic door locks and exterior lighting.
Four schools in Allen County received grants totaling $516,282 to improve school safety. Perry schools will receive $57,717.41, with $50,000 for the high school and the remainder for the elementary school. Shawnee schools will receive $50,000 for improvements in safety at the middle school. Spencerville will receive $150,000.00 for improvements to be split evenly between the elementary, middle and high school areas. Delphos schools will receive $50,000 each for the high school and Franklin Elementary and $30,000 for the middle school. The West Central Learning Academy will receive $36,282.
In Auglaize County, Minster schools was slated to receive $100,000 to be split evenly between the elementary and high schools. St. Marys schools will receive $77,172, with $36,325.25 going to the high school, $20,300 going to the intermediate elementary school and $20,546.75 going to the primary elementary school. Waynesfield-Goshen schools will receive $100,000 to be split evenly between the elementary and high schools.
In Putnam County, the Columbus Grove, Jennings Local, Pandora-Gilboa and Miller City-New Cleveland districts will each receive $50,000 for their high schools. Ottawa-Glandorf schools will receive $150,000 to be split evenly between the high school and the two elementary schools in Ottawa and Glandorf.
“Helping schools pay for important security improvements is just one component of our comprehensive school safety approach that also supports the mental well-being of our kids and the work of local law enforcement to prevent crime,” DeWine said.
DeWine announced that he hired 16 mobile field trainers to assist in teachers’ firearm training and 16 school safety liaisons, one for each region of the state, to connect schools with resources and information regarding school safety.
