BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – The Louisiana Department of Education is offering grants to help schools improve campus safety.
Assumption Parish School Superintendent John Barthelemy says they are looking at options to improve security around campus, but it all comes down to cost.
“If you look at it, our facilities were built in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s with no regard for school safety. It was more of a cosmetic. I think this grant will help us get closer to those single point entrances into our facilities. In our rural area, you know we don’t have that big a budget, but we’re known for doing more with less. However, the Board is fully committed to spending funds to ensure our staff and our students are safe,” says Barthelemy.
The Assumption Parish School system is not the only one with this problem. Louisiana Department of Education is offering $21 million to help school systems strengthen their boundaries. Public schools throughout the state can apply for the scholarship, and the money will be split.
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“These aren’t small grants, these are going to be half a million dollar grants that will be awarded that are substantial that they can do that if they have to do minor construction work. If they need fencing, they can do that if they need security cameras or locks,” said State Superintendent Cade Brumley.
This also applies to metal detectors and if the school wishes to undertake any type of building renovation to increase security.
Barthelemy plans to use the money to create a front entry office as the only point of entry for visitors, meaning all other doors are locked.
“In addition to the one-point entrances, we also talked about keyless entry, where you can use a card to scan to get in and out of the building,” adds Barthelemy.
Applications for the scholarship are going out this week, and the deadline for schools to apply for funding is April 3, 2023.
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