By Tim Lilley
The Message editor
Ten Catholic schools in the Diocese of Evansville have received more than $401,400 in Indiana Secured School Safety Grants awarded for Fiscal Year 2020. Schools will apply matching funds, with the amounts based on their enrollments, and use the grants for safety enhancements.
Since being signed into law in 2013, the Indiana SSSG program has served as a critical resource to ensure Hoosier schools are safe and secure. The program has delivered more than $53 million in matching grants to enhance the safety of schools in a variety of ways. The program supports a dedicated state grant fund that provides matching grants to school corporations, accredited non-public schools, charter schools or a coalition of school corporations and/or charter schools applying jointly to:
- Employ a school resource officer (salary, benefits and basic 40-hr training course);
- Conduct a threat assessment; and/or
- Purchase equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders;
- Support firearms training in districts that choose to implement such programs (new for FY20);
- Support the implementation of a student and parent support services program (new for FY20);
- Fund the one-time startup costs of an active alert warning system (new for FY 20)
Following are the Diocese of Evansville Catholic schools that received grants, including the amount of the state award, and the intended use of the state grant and local matching funds.
- Annunciation School, Holy Spirit Campus, Evansville: $13,125 for security cameras across campus.
- Corpus Christi School, Evansville: $12,729 for controlled-access doors for the O’Connor Center, which houses the preschool, library and Lil’ Coyote Corner.
- Resurrection School, Evansville: $100,000 for controlled access for all classroom doors.
- Benedict Cathedral School, Evansville: $100,000 to install a fence to block off the playground, purchase handheld radios for all staff and install an immediate-lockdown system for all classrooms.
- Bernard School, Rockport: $35,000 for security cameras inside and outside, a new telephone system and an automatic door buzzer for one entrance.
- James School, Haubstadt: $3,297 to update security cameras (and related software) that monitor the playground and parking lot.
- Joseph School, Princeton: $30,807 to replace wooden classroom doors with steel doors, add cyber locks and additional security cameras, and upgrade the telephone paging system.
- Joseph School, Vanderburgh County: $4,865 for new handheld radios for staff.
- Peter & Paul School, Haubstadt: $27,950.40 to update the video-surveillance system.
- Wendel School, St. Wendel: $27,688 for additional security cameras and safety enhancements for school doors.
- Westside Catholic School, Evansville: $46,000 for controlled-access doors at the St. Agnes and St. Boniface campuses, and for handheld radios for both campuses.