Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Monday the recipients of the newly created School Safety Grant Program, with the New Bloomfield R-III school district among the recipients.
This grant program is for school safety improvements. This can include physical security upgrades, technology (door locks, monitoring systems), bleeding control kits, and automatic external defibrillators, a release states.
The total value of the grant is $20 million.
The grant was included in Parson's fiscal year 2023 early supplemental budget request. He signed this bill on Feb. 27.
The fiscal year 2024 budget proposal includes an additional $50 million for the School Safety Grant Program. The proposal has not yet been approved by the General Assembly.
The New Bloomfield school district received $100,000 from the grant. The maximum amount available was $900,000.
To receive funding through the program, school districts and charter schools applied to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The application period began March 15 and closed on April 7.
School districts that applied for the grant were scored in three categories; average building age, assessed value per ADA and status survey. To receive grant funding, a district must have a score of 56 or higher.
New Bloomfield received a score of 58.
Other local school districts that applied for the grant include Fulton Public Schools (50 points), North Callaway R-I (52), South Callaway (30) and Jefferson City (28).
In a release, Parson said this grant program will help schools be prepared for "threats of violence."
"Improving the safety and security of our schools is an issue we can all support, and these grants help ensure our schools remain safe environments for Missouri children to learn," he said in a release.