Tag: State Board of Education

Grants Approved to Fund Safety Officers on 301 Arizona Schools

Neil Jones

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced Monday that the State Board of Education has approved grant funding for 301 statewide schools to finance a school resource officer (SRO) on campus. This shows a significant increase in schools seeking armed security, as 190 campuses utilized the grant for officers during the previous cycle.

Additionally, it is not only more SROs coming to campuses, as Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne also got payments approved for 566 counselors and social workers around the state in over $45 million in grants. In total, the School Safety Program offered nearly $100 million in funding from state and federal monies. The grants will go into effect in the Fall of 2023 and last until the 2025/26 school year.

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Arizona Department of Education Pushes for Phoenix School Safety Grants Despite Delays from District Board

Neil Jones

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced Friday it would be recommending the State Board of Education (SBE) approve public safety grant requests presented by six Phoenix schools, despite inaction from the district board.

“Our first responsibility is to protect the safety and the lives of students and staff. The worst tragedy would be for a maniac to invade a school and kill students with no police officer there to protect them. In addition, the police officers are there all year, befriend the students, so students view them as friends rather than as the enemy, and the police officers also teach courses,” said Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (R).

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