Trinity Lutheran School in Merrill is receiving $19,594 in funding through a Wisconsin Department of Justice Safety Grant. According to Trinity Principal Kathy Yahr, the school will use the funding to upgrade its security system, moving to a key fob system and adding additional security cameras inside and out.
Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel recently announced a list of 89 schools and school districts that have been awarded the next round of grants through the Wisconsin Department of Justice School Safety Grant program, administered by DOJ’s Office of School Safety. Combined, the 89 schools and school districts will receive $3,980,473 which will be spent on building safety improvements, as well as mental health training for faculty and staff. More grants will be awarded soon.
“The DOJ Office of School Safety is moving fast to award school safety grants,” said Attorney General Schimel. “The nearly $4 million grants being awarded to large and small schools across the state, incentivizes school officials and law enforcement to make meaningful improvements to Wisconsin school safety through physical improvements and a focus on mental health training for school faculty.”
Grant dollars are divided into two categories: the Primary School Safety Grant and Advanced School Safety Grant. DOJ’s Primary School Safety Grants focus on baseline improvements to schools, including door locks and hardening school entryways. The Advanced School Safety Grants are awarded to schools that have met minimum security thresholds. In addition to making upgrades to school buildings, one of the School Safety Grant prerequisites is providing all full-time teachers, aides, counselors and administrators with a minimum of three hours combined training in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and Trauma Informed Care/Trauma Sensitive Schools (TIC/TSS) before the end of the 2018-2019 school year; or demonstrate that staff has already received such training.
Highlights from the school safety grant applications include such improvements as:
•Training for all staff on Trauma Informed Care (TIC), Trauma Sensitive Schools (TSS), Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE), Peaceful Warriors, PREPaRE, Threat Assessment and Active Shooter Response training (ALICE);
•Secure the entry areas, sidelites, and interior classroom windows with shatter resistant film, updated doors and locks;
•Allow for the remodeling of entrances and vestibule/visitor holding;
•Install and/or upgrade public address system with fire and intruder alarms;
•Install mobile-based software to be installed to effectively alert building occupants and community members of a threat;
•Labeling exterior vinyl numbers on the exterior of all building so that first responders can identify a specific area.
Over the past three months, since 2017 Wisconsin Act 143 was signed into law, the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) has consulted with numerous stakeholders in the fields of education, security, law enforcement, and mental health. These specialists, listed at the end of this press release, worked with DOJ’s own security experts to develop how the School Safety Grant Initiative will create sustainable improvements in Wisconsin schools.
Grant applicants are required to partner with law enforcement agencies to ensure that proposed expenditures, visitor protocols, and school safety plans will be effective and provide students with the safest learning environment possible.
In addition to helping keep schools safe from violent attacks, DOJ will be closely monitoring for behavior that could affect a school’s ability to pay market rates for products like door locks and shatter-resistant film for glass. DOJ will review and investigate any instances of inappropriate pricing behavior so the benefits of the program are not reduced.