The state of Arkansas has decided to allocate an additional $50 million in grants to school districts to enhance security measures amid a rising number of school shooting incidents and threats.
This recent grant approval raises the state’s total investment in school safety to $100 million. Cheryl May, director of the University of Arkansas’ Criminal Justice Institute and the Arkansas Center for School Safety, expressed concern over the increasing frequency of school shootings.
Following the tragic 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, which resulted in 17 deaths, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson established the Arkansas School Safety Commission. This commission, chaired by Dr. Cheryl May, provided recommendations to the Arkansas Department of Education for safeguarding students. The department categorized these recommendations into three security tiers.
“The department took those recommendations from those different areas, mostly the physical security areas, and were able to separate them into three different tiers,” said May.
After the 2022 school shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, Arkansas invested its initial $50 million in grants to upgrade school security. With those funds nearly depleted, the Arkansas Department of Education requested an additional $50 million to achieve ‘Tier One’ security levels across all state schools, based on the commission’s recommendations.
The aim is to bring every school to a basic security level, with the new funding helping more schools reach higher security tiers.
State Sen. Jonathan Dismang highlighted the importance of prioritizing school safety through one-time funding, while the Department of Education outlined several safety measures as grant priorities.
These include lockable classroom doors, electronic access controls, numbered classrooms for emergency reference, covers for classroom door windows, and shot detection technology.
“We’re trying to help the best we can through one-time funding, because a lot of these things are one-time costs, but it’s going to be up to the districts to make this a priority,” said State Sen. Jonathan Dismang.
Additionally, a statewide alert system proposal aims to improve communication with first responders.
The Department of Education reported that 95 schools in Arkansas have yet to achieve the minimum Tier One security level. To address disparities in funding, especially in rural areas, $15 million of the new grant will be directed towards these schools.
The department’s goal is to ensure all schools reach the Tier One security level by the end of the school year, emphasizing the importance of protecting students across the state.
