School safety grants awarded to Joplin, other area districts

Oct. 9—The Joplin School District is among nearly two dozen districts and private schools in Southwest Missouri to receive grant funding for safety and security measures and upgrades.

The School Safety Grant Program, offered by the state of Missouri, aims to support school safety projects, including physical security upgrades and associated technology such as door locks or monitoring systems, bleeding control kits, epinephrine auto-injectors, and automatic external defibrillators.

"Improving the safety and security of our schools is an issue we can all support, and these grants help ensure our schools remain safe environments for Missouri children to learn," Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement announcing the grant awards on Oct. 2. "While threats of violence are something we never want to see in our classrooms, we must be prepared and have proper resources and response plans in place."

Joplin Schools received $300,000. It will used for security upgrades such as camera improvements and shatter-proof glass materials, said Matt Harding, assistant superintendent of operations.

The priority will be the installation of access control systems across the district, similar to the system that was built into the new Dover Hill Elementary School, he said.

Under that system, staff have a fob to access external doors, even if those doors remain locked to the general public, Harding said. The benefits of the system, he said, are that replacing or deactivating a missing fob is much less expensive than putting new locks in after a key is lost, and fob access can be tracked digitally so administrators know who is coming and going.

"We definitely appreciate the governor and Legislature for freeing this money up for our schools and keeping our kids safe," Harding said.

Area grant recipients

Other safety grants awarded earlier this month include:

—$50,000, Bronaugh School District.

—$200,000, Carl Junction School District.

—$150,000, Cassville School District.

—$100,000, College Heights Christian School, Joplin.

—$100,000, Diamond School District.

—$50,000, Exeter School District.

—$50,000, Jasper School District.

—$50,000, Liberal School District.

—$48,000, McAuley Catholic High School, Joplin.

—$250,000, McDonald County School District.

—$100,000, Miller School District.

—$200,000, Monett School District.

—$124,636, Mount Vernon School District.

—$50,000, Neosho Christian School, Neosho.

—$250,000, Neosho School District.

—$200,000, Nevada School District.

—$100,000, Pierce City School District.

—$31,613, St. Mary's School, Pierce City.

—$50,000, St. Peter's Middle School, Joplin.

—$17,742, Verona School District.

—$50,000, Westview School District.

One grant awardee, the McDonald County School District, said the funds will allow it to improve safety by updating intercom systems and upgrading fire safety equipment across buildings, said Ken Schutten, communications director. There also are plans to install additional fencing at the high school, he said.

"These safety improvements are incredibly important to us," he said in an email to the Globe. "We're dedicated to making sure our school buildings are safe and suitable places to learn. This grant allows us to keep that promise."

Funding awarded earlier

The Oct. 2 announcement of awards was part of the second round of funding through the School Safety Grant Program, with funds allocated from the state budget for fiscal year 2024.

School districts that received grant funds during the program's first round, which was announced in April and was funded through the state budget for fiscal year 2023, include Carthage, East Newton, Lamar, Sarcoxie, Seneca and Webb City.

The Carthage School District received $400,000 at that time. Don Cox, principal of Pleasant Valley Elementary School and the district's safety coordinator, said $25,000 is going to a "safety audit" that began on Monday.

Cox said the audit will look at safety and security plans in buildings across the district, including crisis manuals and emergency operations plans, and will help administrators write plans for each building individually.

"One plan for the district is not enough anymore, and it makes sense," Cox said.

The district will spend the remaining money on updated door locks, especially in older buildings, Cox said. He said most main doors in district buildings have been updated with electronic locks and badge entry, but those with old key locks will be updated.

Other needs include laminate coverings on ground-level windows, chain-link fences around buildings, and security cameras and radios across the district in places where those haven't been upgraded, Cox said.

Globe staff writer John Hacker contributed to this report.