Chester County district receives federal grant to help make schools safer
The new school year is bringing new security measures to the Chester County School District. The district is one of three in South Carolina to receive a grant from the United States Department of Justice.
Chester County Schools will receive $473,464 from the federal School Violence Prevention Program, CCSD representative Chris Chrsitoff said.
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, part of the DOJ, funds this program. Its website describes the grant as ”funding to improve security at schools and on school grounds through the use of evidence-based school safety programs.”
Christoff told The Herald that “We want to ensure that students, faculty and staff have safe and secure facilities for everyday use. Technology’s always changing, there’s always room for improvement, and we want to be sure that we provide the most up-to-date security.”
The district still is deciding how to use the money, Superintendent Antwon Sutton said, but one of his key areas of focus is communication.
That means at least some money will be used to improve the district’s public announcement system. Aging school buildings have out-of-date PA systems that will be replaced.
With modernized equipment, school officials and security personnel will be able to effectively alert everyone in a given school in cases of emergency.
“These updates are merely a preventative measure,” Christoff said, “As technology becomes more advanced and we are able to make these upgrades, our communications will only become more efficient.”
School shootings around the country have made security an ongoing priority for Chester County School District, Sutton said. Improvements introduced by the grant money will be part of the security system already in place.
For for any weather-related incidents, CCSD schools follow the recommendations of the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, Christoff said. In an intruder-related incident, depending on the nature, schools have plans to evacuate, locking the school down, and notify any public safety personnel.
Students will have already noticed some updated security measures this year. All external doors in the district now require a keycard to unlock, Sutton said.
Each school has one or two dedicated security personnel, Sutton said. Some of the schools have private security guards, who are hired in partnership with contractor Defender Services. Other personnel were hired directly by the district.
Sutton said many of the security guards hired through Defender Services are retired police officers. “That’s a plus.”
Christoff declined to comment on whether guards are armed.
“They are equipped to handle most -- if not all -- emergency situations should they arise,” Christoff said. Defender Services’s website says they supply both armed and unarmed guards.
Sutton said he plans to meet with security personnel and continue to improve and develop security at CCSD as the year goes on.
In addition to this grant, a state program will provide internet for families in CCSD this year.
