CLEVELAND — On Tuesday in Columbus while speaking at the Ohio School Safety Summit, Gov. Mike DeWine announced that 1,183 school in 81 counties will receive almost $47 million in grant funding as part of his Ohio K-12 School Safety Grant program.
DeWine created the program in 2021 to ensure that schools have the safety and security resources they need. Funds will be used to cover expenses associated with physical security enhancements such as security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems, and exterior lighting.
According to state officials, 98 schools in 27 counties received $5 million when the grant program first launched in 2021. This year, with help from the American Rescue Plan Act, the grant program received an additional $100 million. Schools that did not receive funding last year had the opportunity to apply for up to $50,000 this round.
The Cleveland Municipal School District has received more funding than any other school system in Ohio with 34 schools obtaining more than $1.6 million in funding.
Another major Northeast Ohio school system, the Akron City School District, received a total grant amount of $650,000 between 13 schools, officials said.
The K-12 School Safety Program will begin accepting applications for the $53 million that is still available. Schools who have previously applied and had ineligible applications will receive first priority.
"With the start of the new school year quickly approaching, we want students, staff, and parents to know that we care about school safety, and we're working every day to make sure that rural, urban, and suburban schools alike have the safety and security resources they need," DeWine said.
During the summit, DeWine also spoke about additional safety measures such as arming adults in schools. You can watch more in the player below:
RELATED: Gov. Mike DeWine addresses arming teachers during school safety event
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