Pennsylvania awarded $40 million in new school safety grants, with 10 Westmoreland County school districts, two Career and Technical Centers and the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit among 234 recipients sharing in the largesse.
State lawmakers established the competitive grant program in the wake of the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting that claimed 17 lives in Parkland, Fla. It challenged Pennsylvania schools to compete for grants to pay for programs designed to enhance school safety.
Officials with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which administered the program, said 75% of applications sought funding related to security planning and buying security-related technology.
Grants awarded included:
- Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center: $34,200
- Derry Area School District: $80,564
- Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technical Center: $28,498
- Greensburg Salem School District: $39,966
- Hempfield Area School District: $46,331
- Jeannette City School District: $113,420
- Ligonier Valley School District: $195,504
- Mt. Pleasant Area School District: $7,580
- Norwin School District: $93,311
- Penn-Trafford School District: $57,634
- Southmoreland School District: $91,700
- Westmoreland Intermediate Unit: $323,000
- Yough School District: $286,658
