Two hundred school districts and charter schools across North Carolina will benefit from more than $74.1 million in school safety grants announced by the Department of Public Instruction’s Center for Safer Schools. The financial grant is being given out by the Center for School Safety, a division of the Department of Public Instruction.
In Western North Carolina, the funds are being awarded to county school systems in varying amounts. The largest sums are going to Buncombe and McDowell counties.
Avery County Schools: $161,998
Madison County Schools: $407,000
Mitchell County Schools: $619,362
Yancey County Schools: $487,171
The funds are to be used specifically for safety and security primarily at elementary and middle schools. The bulk of the funds will go toward School Resource Officers, with the balance going toward surveillance technologies.
Mitchell County Schools reports the funding will pay the majority of the salaries for a School Resource Officer for each middle and elementary school in the district ($220,000). Mitchell County Schools also received $399,362 for school safety equipment that will include equipment on the campuses to make the schools safer including additional cameras, door entry systems and gates.
