INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Secured School Safety Board has approved over $24 million in funding for school safety initiatives across 499 schools/districts in all 92 counties. This is a record number of schools impacted in a single year.
The total state funding for the matching grant program since 2013 is $187 million.
“Since this program began, the focus has been on listening to the needs of school districts while partnering with them to invest in the safety of Hoosier schools,” said Gov. Eric J. Holcomb. “Indiana continues to be a leader in school safety resources made available. With the help of the General Assembly, Indiana continues to step up to support students and staff.”
Most school applicants prioritized adding school resource officers, which accounted for nearly $17 million of all requests. Seven requests for firearms training were granted as a priority, as mandated by recent legislation.
| Category | Number of Projects/499 Schools | Dollars Allocated |
|---|---|---|
| SRO/LEO | 308 | $16,799,158.42 |
| Equipment/Tech/Hardware | 140 | $5,720,446.55 |
| Student/Parent Support Services | 26 | $882,050.11 |
| Training | 0 | $0 |
| Firearms Training for Staff | 7 | $47,019.80 |
| AEWS (no match) | 0 | $0 |
| Site Vulnerability Assessment | 2 | $6,050 |
| Bullying Prevention | 1 | $5,670 |
| Design and Construction | 22 | $746,193.07 |
| Post-Incident Counseling Services | 0 | $0 |
| Total | 506 | $24,206,587.95 |
“We’re proud to see hundreds of schools apply to take advantage of this important program to improve school safety,” said Rusty Goodpaster, director of the SSSG Program. “Although the Board had to make some difficult funding decisions based on eligible funding, this year still represents a significant impact for schools across the state and prioritizes the protection of staff and students.”
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security administers the Secured School Fund. On September 1, the IDHS website’s data page will provide a comprehensive list of recipient schools and the total amount of their awards (under the “Grants” header in “Selected Annual Data”). For security reasons, individual schools’ use of those funds is not publicly available.
The SSSG issues matching grants for eligible items, and then schools match those funds at a certain level: 25 percent, 50 percent, or 100 percent. The match requirement is determined based on the school district’s average daily membership, the project’s total amount, or what the request covers. Eligible items in the grant include funding for school resource officers (SROs) and law enforcement officers in schools, equipment, and technology, active event warning systems (which do not require matching funds), firearms training for teachers and staff that choose to allow guns on school property, threat assessments, and the implementation of a student and parent support services program.
Eligible items in the grant include funding for school resource officers (SROs) and law enforcement officers in schools, equipment, and technology, active event warning systems (which do not require matching funds), firearms training for teachers and staff that choose to allow guns on school property, threat assessments, and the implementation of a student and parent support services program. The Indiana School Safety Hub also provides schools with a wealth of resources, training opportunities, and other information designed to give schools the tools they need to keep students and staff safe.
The Indiana School Safety Hub also provides schools with a wealth of resources, training opportunities, and other information designed to give them the tools they need to keep students and staff safe.
