ELIDA, OH (WLIO) - The State of Ohio will be distributing more than $50,000,000 to schools across 57 counties.
Over 700 schools will receive grant funding under Mike DeWine's K through 12 Safety Program, which seeks to improve physical and cyber security on school campuses. Funds can be put towards improvements such as exterior lighting, camera systems, automatic locking doors, and more. Elida Superintendent Joel Mengerink says their district is grateful to have a grant to make these safety upgrades instead of general fund money.
"Having to spend money on the safety of school buildings isn't something you want to do but the safety of our staff and students is first and foremost on our mind every day. We take that seriously and this is one avenue we're going to look to make some improvements on some areas that we know could use some tightening up," said Joel Mengerink, superintendent of Elida Local Schools.
Elida High School and middle school have been awarded $100,000 each. This is the third round of money distributed from Governor Mike DeWine's K through 12 School Safety Grant Program, which has allocated over $160,000,000 to schools across Ohio. A total of 10 public school districts and chartered non-public schools in Allen County received grant funding in the third round. You can find the complete list of schools awarded in this round of funding at this link.
Press Release from Elida Local School District: The Elida Local School District is excited to announce that we have been awarded $200,000 from Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant Program. These funds are to be split between the middle and high school and represent the maximum award amount that the district was eligible to receive as part of this competitive grant program.
Elida High School and Elida Middle School represent two of the 708 schools in Ohio, out of more than 2,000 schools that applied, to be awarded these grant funds. "We are grateful for the funding that is being provided so that we can continue to improve the safety and security of our school buildings for our students and staff. It will allow us to make improvements not only in the physical aspects of site security, but also improve network and cyber security as well. It's definitely a win-win for our district and community," stated Superintendent Joel Mengerink.
It should be noted that the elementary school was not eligible to apply for funding due to the building being less than five years old.
