Nearly 100 Ohio schools will work to improve the overall safety and security of their buildings with $4.8 million awarded in safety funding from Ohio's K-12 School Safety Grant Program.

Ninety-eight schools in 27 counties will implement safety upgrades, including physical security enhancements such as security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks and visitor badging systems.

“School safety is largely about prevention and planning and these grants will help schools increase their efforts,” said Ohio Facilities Construction Commission Executive Director Cheryl J. Lyman.

The K-12 School Safety Grant Program is one of two new school safety programs first launched by the Ohio School Safety Center in 2021. As part of the Campus Safety Grant Program, 27 institutions of higher education in Ohio also received grants to fund security enhancements on their campuses.