Senate Leadership
September 18, 2007
Williams Kicks Off School Safety Grant Program
Joined by agency commissioners for S.A.F.E. Schools launch
Joined today by several state agency commissioners at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford, state Senate President Pro Tempore Donald E. Williams, Jr. (D-Brooklyn) launched a program to provide grants for school security infrastructure improvements that he shepherded through the legislature during this year's regular session.
"This initiative came about because of the concerns of parents from around the state," Senator Williams said, "and I want to thank them for their concern for their safety of our schools."
A total of $10 million has been allocated over the next two fiscal years, $5 million in each year, to provide the grants to schools and districts in need of security infrastructure upgrades and improvements. An additional $5 million has been set aside for personnel training and security assessments.
"We know that when it comes to school security, there's no such thing as 100 percent safety and security," Senator Williams said. "We also know that there are many schools in our state that have no basic security whatsoever in terms of the basics that we would all expect for the protection of our children, teachers and administrators."
Applications for the S.A.F.E. (Security Assistance for Education) Schools security grant program are available from the Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (DEMHS), which administers the program. Priority will be given first to schools with no entrance security infrastructure and second to schools located within priority school districts. The grants can be used for 'smart card' systems, security cameras at the major entryways, and other systems where individuals can be met at the door and asked their intentions, who they are and who they want to see.
Said Senator Williams, "We know this is a significant step to provide safety and security for our children and for our schools. Unfortunately in this day and age, that is something that we all need to be concerned about and that we need to work toward."
To qualify for a grant, districts must show that they have conducted a uniform security assessment of entrances and infrastructure, that they have an emergency plan developed in conjunction with applicable state and local first-responders, and that they periodically conduct tests and drills of their emergency plan. Security assessments must be conducted under the supervision of local law enforcement and in accordance with the Safe School Facilities Check List provided by the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities.
The S.A.F.E. Schools initiative also sets new standards for school security infrastructure in new construction and emergency response at the state's institutions of higher learning. The law now requires that any school district applying for a state school construction grant for a new facility or for major alterations, extensions, renovations or replacement of an existing facility to include in the project plans entryway security infrastructure.
Additionally, institutions of higher learning-including colleges, universities and private occupational schools-are required to develop emergency response plans by October 1, 2007, and are required to submit those plans to their local first-responders, to the state Department of Public Safety and to DEMHS by October 1 and annually thereafter.
School districts that wish to apply must submit their intent to DEMHS by October 15 by calling (860) 256-0900. The full grant application is due by November 15, 2007.
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Senator Williams’ Larry Cook |
Listing of Leadership’s recent press releases. |
Senator Looney’s Larry Cook |
