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Eight Lycoming County schools were awarded school safety grants totaling $796,275, according to an announcement by area legislators.
School districts receiving the grants and the amounts they received are: East Lycoming, $35,000; Jersey Shore Area, $40,000; Loyalsock Township, $35,000; Montgomery Area, $320,821; Montoursville Area, $35,000; Muncy, $30,000; South Williamsport Area, $255,454; and Williamsport Area, $45,000.
In addition, two districts in Tioga County were awarded grants -- Northern Tioga, received $326,718 for security planning and the purchase of security-related technology, and Wellsboro Area, $35,000 for security planning and the purchase of security-related technology, and pursuing trauma-informed approaches to education.
Daphne Bowers, superintendent at the Montgomery Area School District, said they were thrilled to receive the grant, the largest award in Lycoming County.
The district had applied for the award "with the intent of hiring an additional licensed school social worker in order to develop in-house mental services," she said, adding the addition of the social worker will be a "huge help for us."
The grants were awarded by the School Safety and Security Committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) as part of the School Safety and Security Grant Program.
According to Dr. Mark Stamm, South Williamsport's superintendent, "These PCCD grants are a significant investment from the Commonwealth to school safety for students and staff alike."
"Rather than prescribing what the grant must be used for, the program allows considerable latitude to schools to make local decisions based on our most significant safety needs," Stamm said.
Eligible uses for the grants include hiring school security officers, purchasing security-related technology, completing safety and security assessments, implementing violence prevention curricula, offering counseling services for students, and creating other programs to protect students.
"South Williamsport received $30,000 from Part A, which will be used for new Motorola handheld communications equipment and two repeaters," Stamm noted.
"These will allow more fluid communication between district administrators, office staff, the SRO and, when needed, borough Police and EMS," he added. "The repeaters will extend their transition distance throughout the district."
"In addition, we received $225,000 in a Part B Competitive grant that will replace the digital surveillance systems in all three school buildings. The new system meets FBI standards for image resolution, low light recording, and storage capacity," he added, noting that the grant will cover the installation of cameras at all athletic facilities and play grounds.
In announcing the awards, Sen. Gene Yaw, R-Loyalsock Township, stated, "No parent, teacher or student should have to worry if they are going to get home safely from school each day," Yaw said. "Protecting our schools is paramount."