Local area legislators announced Feb. 26 the state’s School Safety and Security Committee awarded safety and security grants to school districts in the area.

Catasauqua Area School District received $35,000 for equipment; Whitehall-Coplay School District received $45,000 for equipment; and Northampton Area School District received $450,928 to fully fund four counselors, training, planning and equipment.

State Rep. Zach Mako, R-183rd; state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th; and state Rep. Marcia Hahn, R-138th, were all proud to play a part in securing grant funds for their districts.

“We have made assisting our school districts in ensuring a safe learning environment for our children and our educators a priority and these grant awards will aid in those efforts,” Boscola stated.

“These grants are truly an investment into our area’s most precious resource: our young people,” Hahn said. “This funding will make possible the installation of essential security equipment and improvements to safety training that will positively impact the well-being of our children.”

Other schools in the legislative districts that received grants are Bethlehem Area School District, Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21, East Penn School District, Easton Area School District, Nazareth Area School District, Northern Lehigh School District, Parkland School District, Pen Argyl Area School District, Salisbury Township School District, Saucon Valley School District and Wilson Area School District.

The 17-member committee within the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency was created as part of Act 44 of 2018, a comprehensive school safety law passed in 2018. One of its duties is to help distribute both meritorious and competitive grants. This year’s grants total $53.7 million statewide.

Grants were available for projects to support one or more of 22 eligible categories listed under Section 1306-B of the Public School Code. These uses can include the purchase of equipment, training, programs, counseling services, planning, screenings and to secure behavioral health care professionals and support.

Act 44, which created the School Safety and Security Committee, was signed into law by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf in June 2018. The committee develops the criteria schools use when performing school safety and security assessments, issues surveys that allow schools to measure their safety and security preparedness and administers grants to schools to improve safety and security.