Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced Wednesday (Sept. 18) more than $5 million in grants to school districts statewide to improve security, including two municipalities in the lower Naugatuck Valley.
The city of Derby will receive $267,873 from the state, and the city of Shelton will receive $168,537.
The state money is in addition to money being spent by the cities on their own for school security improvements: $107,139 in Derby, and $298,703 in Shelton, according to numbers from the governor’s office.
Click here to see a complete list of school districts receiving funding.
The grants Malloy announced Wednesday were based on “school security assessment” surveys conducted by each district that applied, the governor said in a prepared statement, and will be administered by the state’s Department of Emergency Services.
Malloy announced the grant program in May as part of the Gun Violence Prevention and Children’s Safety Act, which the state’s legislature passed in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting.
“After the horrific events on Dec. 14, Connecticut cities and towns moved swiftly to improve security infrastructures at schools in need,” Malloy said in the statement. “We will never be able to prevent every random act, but we can take the steps necessary to make sure that our children and our teachers are as safe as possible. This funding allows districts with the most need to implement modern security measures that will make schools safer.”
Shelton Schools Superintendent Freeman Burr welcomed the funding Wednesday.
“The focus of this upgrade will be the installation of external and internal state of the art camera surveillance systems at Booth Hill, Elizabeth Shelton, Long Hill, Mohegan and Sunnyside Schools,” Burr said in an e‑mail.
“This is a combined effort between the city of Shelton and the Board of Education to improve the security at each of our school facilities,” Burr went on. “This is one important piece to upgrade infrastructure within our district, especially at our older elementary schools.”
Shelton State Rep. Jason Perillo lauded city officials for their work to get the funding in a prepared statement.
“These funds are essential to providing adequate security measures to protect our students and our educators,” Perillo said. “I want to thank our local leaders for dedicating the resources needed to ensure that our schools are safe.”
Lawmakers representing the lower Valley also issued statements in support of the funding.
“I’m grateful for the state’s effort to keep our children safer,” said State Representative Linda M. Gentile (D‑Ansonia, Derby). “Assuring our schools remain sanctuaries of learning is critical and this modernization will go a long way in maintaining that trust.”
“Security upgrades are expensive additions to local budgets, I am very pleased the state is able to defray the costs through the school security grant program,” said State Representative Theresa Conroy (D‑Seymour, Beacon Falls, Derby).
“The legislature set up this program to address the school safety issues that became everyone’s concern last year; this grant program matches schools that have identified needs with the resources we made available to help,” state Senator Joseph Crisco said. “The security infrastructure upgrades we envision are meant to prevent or avoid a crisis wherever possible, and this initiative fortifies our efforts to deter violence in that regard.”
The state received 111 applications for funding under the grant program, according to Malloy’s statement, which also said a new round of grants would be announced “soon.”
Click here to read more about Wednesday’s announcement in a story from CT News Junkie.