Indy Standard

Several Gibson County schools have received over $340,000 through the state's Secured School Safety Grant Program, according to area lawmakers.

State Rep. Matt Hostettler (R-Patoka) noted that this funding is part of the state legislature's significant investments in school safety this year, which totaled $29.8 million in state matching grants across 474 schools in Indiana.

"Students and staff deserve to be a part of a learning environment where they feel safe and can keep the focus on learning," Hostettler said. "These grants provide funding for school resource officers, security systems, and other improvements to meet the needs of individual schools."

Local schools receiving grants include:

- East Gibson School Corp., $32,500;

- Holy Cross School, $35,000;

- North Gibson School Corp., $98,676;

- Saint James School, $23,691;

- Saints Peter and Paul School, $33,470;

- South Gibson School Corp., $85,396; and

- St. Joseph School, $31,347.

Funds can be used for various safety needs such as support for resource officers and law enforcement officers in schools, equipment and technology upgrades, active-event warning systems, threat assessments, and student and parent support services programs. In 2023, the Indiana General Assembly expanded the list of possible uses for the grants to include help covering technology upgrade costs and better coordination with local government and law enforcement.

"Our students and staff need to feel safe at school, and this grant opportunity gives local school districts the funding flexibility to develop a safety plan and implement it," said State Rep. Cindy Ledbetter (R-Newburgh). "It's good to see the state step up in this way and schools utilize these dollars to maximize their efforts."

Hoosier schools have received about $163 million in school safety matching grants since 2014.

To learn more about the Secured School Safety Grant Program and what Indiana is doing to keep schools safe, visit the state's school safety hub at in.gov/schoolsafety.