Tuesday, August 24, 2021
The Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Office of School Safety recently finalized a substantial grant program totaling more than $92 million for safety improvements in schools.
The program provides Wisconsin public, private, charter, and tribal schools $92,466,783 for safety enhancements, threat assessment training, and mental health training.
In March 2018, 2017 Wisconsin Act 143 established the DOJ’s Office of School Safety, and provided $100 million for school safety. Since 2018, the DOJ has trained more than 11,000 Wisconsin educators. Additionally, all staff within 1,306 Wisconsin schools have been trained in trauma-informed care and adverse childhood experiences.
In addition to the training, physical improvements and upgrades of school buildings were also made, with new security systems and security cameras implemented, and some schools rebuilding school building entrances. A portion of the grant also established the DOJ’s Speak Up, Speak Out resource, a confidential threat reporting tip line available to any school in Wisconsin.
The remaining $7.5 million of the $100 million grant has been allocated for additional school safety projects. Projects include school resource officer training, youth mental health training, a threat assessment study with the University of Wisconsin and 40 other schools, and grants for Speak Up, Speak Out promotional materials.
Additional information on this grant can be found in the Wisconsin DOJ’s news release.