Three Monroe school districts get $177K for safety upgrades

Three school systems around Monroe County will be upgrading their safety systems with $177,013 worth of grants from the state government.

Summerfield Schools will be getting $100,000; the Monroe County Intermediate School District will receive $50,000 and God’s Lighthouse Academy will get $27,013.

Summerfield will be investing its largest share of the funds in a new PA system for both of its buildings, sid Supt. Scott Salow. The money will be used to add a key fob system to its elementary school. This is planned to be installed over the summer, Salow said.

"(This) is one project that we had on the back burner, looking for an avenue to pay for it creatively," Salow said. "So administratively we decided to fill out the application and apply. We are looking forward to increasing our campus and keeping our kids safe.”

The Monroe County Intermediate School District will prioritize its spending differently from other school districts because it is serving students differently than other school districts. Eric Feldman, the ISD’s assistant superintendent for human resources and legal services, said they would be spending their $50,000 on systems to control building access, entrance intercoms and intercom radios.

“Any school district would want as much as they could possibly get. … We have already planned before the grant. We are upgrading all of the security features with or without the grant. We are still going to proceed with it,” Feldman said.

God’s Lighthouse Academy, 8166 Douglas Rd, Lambertville, will be applying to spend its share of taxpayer dollars on enhancing the security of its entrances.

“This will be to secure coming into the building. We’ve had many times where people will just come in and we have had to have the police here,” God’s Lighthouse’s Mayra Leitner said. “There were situations that were not safe. Most of the situations have not been a major threat, but they have been threats to the building.”

According to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's office, 150 school districts around Michigan are getting $10 million worth of investments designed to improve school safety. Whitmer’s office said in a press release that 366 applicants from various local school districts applied. The districts that won – including the three in Monroe County – have until July 1, 2023, to spend their awarded money.

“Michigan’s students and educators deserve to feel safe in school,” Whitmer said in the press release. “I’m proud that this state-funded grant program helps schools make improvements to help keep students and educators safe by funding more secure learning environments. In my budget proposal for next school year, I’ve proposed $66 million in school safety grants, which is equal to the total amount distributed since 2015. With this historic proposal and my larger education budget, which includes resources to improve every kid’s in-class experience, build and renovate school facilities, and retain and recruit more teachers, we will invest in every school and every district across Michigan.”

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Three Monroe School Districts Get $177,000 In Safety Upgrades