By Cathleen Brennan
Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is proud to receive three recent grant awards from the U.S. Department of Justice. The combined total of the three grants is more than $1.3 million to support school-safety related programs across BCPS. The grants are authorized by the STOP School Violence Act and are intended to improve school security by reducing exposure to risks, preventing actions of violence, and recognizing and responding to violent acts.
The three grant awards support the District’s focus on school security measures District-wide, as safety and security remain the District’s highest priorities. Details on each of the grants are listed below.
- STOP School Violence – Prevention and Mental Health Training Program
Grant Award: $500,000
Through this grant, BCPS is expanding its partnership with Sandy Hook Promise to provide its Know the Signs violence prevention programs District wide by providing targeted support to approximately 55 secondary schools in the District. This includes training sessions for approximately 700 teachers and school personnel aimed at preventing student violence and approximately 215 student education sessions and awareness events, quarterly training for parents, families and community members regarding violence prevention. Start with Hello and Say Something are two of the Sandy Hook Promise Know the Signs programs being implemented by the District.
- STOP School Violence – Threat Assessment and Technology Reporting Program
Grant Award: $379,346
Through this grant, BCPS will update training for school-based threat assessment teams, School Resource Officers (SROs) and school safety officers to conduct threat assessments, identify and report potential threats, and report data from threat assessments. In addition, improved safety and security policies, protocols and practices, and updated threat assessment training manuals and materials will increase the effectiveness of threat assessment teams.
- U.S. Department of Justice Community Orient-ed Policing Services (COPS) School Violence Prevention Program
Grant Award: $465,994
Through this grant, which was submitted in collaboration with Broward County, the District will enhance school video surveillance systems with analytic cameras. These ‘smart’ cameras, in addition to recording video, can also recognize unusual activity and provide real-time alerts to those monitoring the cameras.
To learn more about these grants, visit www.bja.gov and www.cops.usdoj.gov.
