Kennedale ISD near Fort Worth is among several school districts in Texas to receive federal funding to improve school safety.
Recent state laws require safety upgrades and armed security on every school campus. Kennedale ISD Superintendent Chad Gee said those requirements come with a price tag.
鈥淚n this day and age of unfunded safety mandates that are coming down to us all the time, we don't have enough money,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so this grant is huge for a district.鈥�
The funding will go towards upgrading old security equipment and towards a new security operations building, Gee said, as well as upgraded cameras, electronic doors and a radio communications program.
The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Justice鈥檚 School Violence Prevention Program. A large portion of funding was authorized by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, .
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas was among the lead negotiators of the bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law one month after the .
鈥淣o parent should fear for the safety of their student when they drop them off at school, and no student or teacher should be afraid when they walk into the classroom,鈥� Cornyn said in a statement announcing the grant funding. 鈥淚n the aftermath of the tragedy in Uvalde, I鈥檓 grateful that meaningful solutions are being delivered through this funding to prevent violence in Texas schools.鈥�
Lytle Independent School District near San Antonio and Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District also received grant funds through the federal School Violence Prevention program.
Juan Salinas II is a 四虎影院 news intern. Got a tip? Email Juan at jsalinas@kera.org. You can follow Juan on X @4nsmiley
