Amid nationwide school violence, the state is preparing to allocate $21 million to public schools to make them more secure by limiting access to a single point.
“We intend to use onetime funds to harden the perimeters of our schools,” state Superintendent of Education Cade Brumley said in a statement.
“These funds will support this foundational element of school safety.”
School leaders will be briefed on the aid Thursday.
The deadline to apply is April 3.
The push was announced last September, four months after 19 students and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Parents and others questioned what the state was doing to ensure that public school students here stay safe.
Other measures announced in the wake of the Ulvade shootings include free apps that allow students to report possible criminal activity and a first-of-its kind school safety summit last year that attracted 800 educators and first responders.
A second such gathering is set for June 15 at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge.
Providing only one point of entry in schools is considered a best practice.
The money can be used for security cameras, metal detectors or other physicial security equipment or renovations to improve security at a single entry point.
The state Department of Education is also urging local school leaders to solicit ideas from educators, parents and others in the community.
The improved security will be financed with federal dollars from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which won congressional approval last year and provides $1 billion to make schools more secure.
Mike Faulk, executive director of the Louisiana Association of School Superintendents, said Wednesday school leaders are contantly reviewing what might be needed to avoid school incidents.
‘You hear about these school shootings and it causes people to reflect, review what they are doing and seeing if they can do things a little different,” he said.
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