The Northwest R-I School District plans to have surveillance camera systems and related equipment installed at elementary schools across the district.
Those improvements will be funded with a $450,000 grant the district received through the state’s new School Safety Grant program, which supports school safety improvements, including physical security upgrades and associated technology in schools, like door locks, monitoring systems, bleeding control kits and automated external defibrillators.
“We are grateful for this additional funding that will help us provide enhanced security to our entryways and to the interiors of our buildings,” Northwest Superintendent Jennifer Hecktor said. “Many of our buildings are aged and require updated infrastructure to provide needed surveillance systems. We pursue grants when they are available, and we are pleased that our application was awarded.”
Mark Janiesch, Northwest’s chief operating officer, said the elementary buildings each have one camera at the entrance.
“The School Safety grant will allow us to put cameras and related equipment and wiring inside each hallway of our six elementary schools,” Janiesch said. “The middle schools and the high school already have camera systems, but we will be able to expand and upgrade our existing systems.
“We will be using the grant funds only for surveillance cameras and related equipment. Bond issue funds will be utilized for upgrades to our front door intercom/camera/buzzer systems at each of the buildings. These funds will go along with our bond issue projects, as well as build upon existing bond issue plans, to make our buildings safer and more secure.”
Northwest learned they received the grant on April 28. Only two other school districts in Jefferson County received funds in the first round of grants – the Festus R-6 School District, which received a $350,000 grant, and the De Soto School District, which got a $250,000 grant.
On Feb. 27, Gov. Mike Parson signed an early supplemental budget bill for fiscal year 2023 that appropriated $20 million in funding for School Safety Grants. Parson’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal includes an additional $50 million for the program, if approved by legislators.
The districts will receive funds within 30 days of the grant award. They will have one year to complete the upgrades.