SPRINGDALE -- The School Board heard details of an $844,000 school safety grant and expressed appreciation for the School District's commissioned school security officers during its meeting Tuesday.
Damon Donnell, director of student services, introduced a group of the officers, who work in elementary schools, to the board. He discussed how the funding, provided by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and available now, would be used.
The equipment to be purchased includes:
Vision panels for classroom doors, which block the view into rooms.
Shatter-resistant film for classrooms and school entrances.
Barriers to prevent vehicles from being driven into buildings.
Weapons-detection equipment.
Donnell praised the security officers' work, "from mentoring, to keeping our doors locked, to making sure that our campuses are secure and getting really involved with training."
Among the many requirements for the officers are 60 hours of initial training, firearms training four times a year and cross-training with the Springdale Police Department and the city's special weapons and tactics program. The district has 18 commissioned school security officers, according to Mary Jordan, public relations specialist.
Donnell said he's grateful there's now an armed presence "in all of our buildings, K-12."
In August, the board approved allowing Superintendent Jared Cleveland to develop a security officer program with the goal of placing an officer at each of the district's 18 elementary schools.
"I'd just like to say a huge thank-you to Dr. Cleveland for bringing this vision forward, allowing us to move forward and to the board for getting behind it and supporting it, making it happen," Donnell said.
In other business, the board unanimously approved the calendar for the 2023-24 school year. The first day of school will be Aug. 14. Christmas break will run Dec. 20 through Jan. 2. The last day of the school year is set for May 23, 2024.
The board also unanimously approved an audit report for the year that ended June 30, 2022. The audit was performed by HCJ CPAs & Advisors, PLLC.