Just less than half of school security grant money left in Wisconsin

The final tally is in and there is a pile of money left for security in Wisconsin schools.

Out of the $100 million available for schools under a new security grant program, eligible school requests this spring amounted to just about $56 million.

So, another round of grants is likely. This time focused on an “enhanced” level of security and training, says state attorney general Brad Schimel.

“We’re going to be focusing on bringing training to the school district so they can get everybody on their team trained up to know what to do, and not just with violence that shocked us all, but everyday violence,” Schimel said.

State schools superintendent Tony Evers, a candidate for governor, has asked that some of the school security grant money be directed to expanded mental health services in schools.

The attorney general’s office says the grants were meant for one-time projects and not for funding recurring expenses like school staff salaries.

Schimel says his office would send people out to schools to conduct appropriate training.

“Our school’s have asked for more training ability to their staff but they can’t send people off to some conference in a different city,” he said.