School districts across the Commonwealth received grants for security impovements

RICHMOND, Va. – According to information provided by Pulaski County Public Schools, a number of school districts located around the Commonwealth will receive part of $12 million worth of funding intended for security upgrades.

Both Pulaski County and Roanoke County were awarded the highest grant amount that the program was able to provide, which was $250,000. Other areas that received grants are Bedford County ($175,100), Giles County ($127,162), Franklin County ($49,911), Montgomery County ($25,894), Botetourt County ($28,161), Floyd County ($23,538), and the City of Radford ($16,540).

A grant in the amount of $200,000 was awarded to the Martinsville City Public Schools in order to improve the safety and security of two of its schools. According to MCPS, the funds will be used to install key card access points on all classroom doors at Martinsville High School and Martinsville Middle School. This will eliminate the need for using keys to enter classrooms and increase the level of security in each facility. With the school identification cards that they have been given, employees will have access to the classrooms. At the moment, key card access is used at the entrance points of each school building.

“The safety of our students is the number one priority of Pulaski County Public Schools and our schools already have advanced systems in place to address the issue of safety. This grant will allow us to continue to upgrade our school security equipment to provide additional layers of protection to maintain the safest possible learning environment for our students,” said Chris Stafford, PCPS Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Business Operations.