Governor Sununu is set to increase the school safety preparedness grants by $10 million for a total of almost $30 million, according to the Union Leader. Grants so far have been used for door lock upgrades, security cameras, and reinforced windows.
From the Union Leader:Once completed, this would mean grants for as many as 90 percent of school buildings in the state, according to Perry Plummer, director of New Hampshire’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
“I would challenge anyone to find another state that is going to deliver improvements to 90 percent of schools,” Plummer said last week. “We take our mandate to assure the safety of school children very seriously…”
Last January, a House-Senate budget committee approved the 170 proposals to spend the first $19 million from the fund that were vetted by a School Infrastructure Safety Commission.
“Our goal is to make our schools the safest in the nation, something we can all agree on,” Sununu has said. “If we can’t put our kids on the school bus and know they are safe, nothing else matters. It really has to start there.”
All projects approved to this point fall into three categories: imminent dangers and health risks, security enhancements and fiber-optic internet access.
In the first grants approved, more than 80 percent were spent on critical security improvements like reinforced windows and doors, state-of-the-art exterior door-locking systems and early detection systems.
Source: Gov. Sununu to add $10 million to efforts to improve school security | Union Leader
