Area school districts share $5.4 million for safety, mental health support
Washington, Greene and Fayette County school districts will receive more than $5.4 million in state grants to support safety measures and mental health services for students and staff, according to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Deliquency’s School Safety and Security Commission.
The grants are part of $47 million approved by the committee “to improve safety, security, and mental health supports for students and staff at schools across the Commonwealth.”
The awards include nearly $509,700 for Carmichaels Area School District in Greene County, and more than $486,000 for Ringgold Area School District and nearly $359,000 in Charleroi School District Washington County. In Fayette County, Connellsville Area School District will receive $196,418. The five career and technical schools in the three counties each will receive $70,000.
The funding was divided into four categories: noncompetitive school mental health grants, formula-based school safety and security meritorious grants, competitive school safety and security grants, and school safety grants for nonpublic schools.
In all, the SSSC approved $155 million in federal and state school safety funding for schools as part of the 2023-24 state budget.
Much of the award for Carmichals came in the competitive category, $367,152.
Among the range of personnel needs and security improvements the funding will support are a social worker at the middle school and another school police officer through a partnership with Cumberland Township Police Department; upgrading and installing infrastructure including cameras inside and outside school buildings, and implementing an educational program with Intermediate Unit 1 to promote positive mental health and enhance coping skills, according to Carmichaels Area School District Superintendent Fred Morecraft.
The school district also received a noncompetitive grant that will be used for the continued employment of a school police officer and a social worker at the elementary school.
“We’re so fortunate to be funded with that amount of money, and it’s all designated for safety and mental health support,” said Morecraft. “Mental health and the emotional well-being of kids is an issue that is growing every year.”
Charleroi Area School District is earmarked to receive $358,601, including $206,275 in competitive grants, which Superintendent Dr. Ed Zelich, said will be used to address the findings of a recent state police safety audit. The district will purchase metal detector scanners, automated door alarms in the gymnasium, upgrade speakers in the main gymnasium in the event of an emergency, update signs on the campus for first responders, install a sensory room at the middle school and a calm room, among other measures.
At Connellsville, the funding will enable the school district to contract with area counseling and behavioral health services, upgrade school security cameras and a security camera server, provide bleed control kits in every school building, and install alarms on less-trafficked exterior doors at the elementary school.
“(The grant) is definitely very helpful. Budgets are very strained, and we have to put resources into so many different things, so grants like these are very helpful and we can make sure we’re focusing those resources on safety, security and mental health support,” said Connellsville School District Interim Superintendent Richard Evans.
“When we get funding like this, we try to allocate it across a lot of areas. We want to focus on security and technology, but we also want to put money toward the mental health side,” said Evans.
In a statement announcing the awards, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who chairs the committee that approved the grants, said the administration is committed to making sure schools have the resources they need to keep school buildings and campuses safe and to provide mental health services for children who need it.
“As a father, I understand how much Pennsylvania parents care about keeping their kids safe at school and healthy in body and mind,” said Davis. “Our kids are facing so many pressures, and our schools are dealing with significant challenges.”
In all, Washington County school districts received more than $2.8 million in awards; Greene County, $1.4 million, and Fayette County, $1.1 million.
To see a full list of awards, including dollar amount and schools approved for funding, visit
https://www.pccd.pa.gov/schoolsafety/Documents/School%20Safety%20Award%20Documents/School%20safety%20awards_1.pdf.