LCSD Receives Federal Grant to improve safety measures

The Lauderdale County School District was just awarded a grant by the Federal Government to help improve the school district’s safety concerns. Lauderdale’s Superintendent tells us more.

"It's the COP'S School Violence Prevention Program of the SVP. This average award was about $300,000 Lauderdale County Schools were able to receive over $498,000. This is a Federal Grant that is given to the local districts to be able to provide additional security measures and to increase those that are already in place," explained John-Mark Cain.

The Grant is a part of the School Violence Prevention Program, with the grant the school district already has some things that are at the top of their list to have done

"So we're talking about anything from fencing in certain areas, training for school staff members, combining training with local law enforcement to respond to threats or emergencies, cameras, looking at door locks to make sure they're working properly and replacing them. So really a host of things that the district will have at its disposal to increase safety, and security on our campuses," said Cain.

Lauderdale’s Safety Support Specialist says that with a lot of their building being built in the 60's they will be able to implement more safety precautions as far as getting in and out of campuses.

"We'll be able to do a lot of improvements and issues that we have with some of our older buildings, like doors that are a real issue, going to be some ballistic film that's looked at some panels and things, but we'll be able to add a lot more access and control gates to prevent entry into the school," said Russell Kenne.

Mccain states they are currently getting finalized and will begin making improvements as soon as the funds become available to them.