Over the years, the district has laid the critical ground work in order to be successful with this grant, putting in the necessary foundations to support the intentions of the grant. This means already having secured buildings, trained staff, students and security personnel, a strong relationship with local law enforcement, and a school district safety task force team, to name a few.

“Training is a key element to school safety; we will be offering training to staff, families and students around safety and security with the intent to build resilience, inform and raise up awareness to personal safety and how to be prepared,” says Kathy Morris, coordinator of Safety and Security for Durango School District 9-R. “Keeping schools safe takes the whole community, it is where our strengths are in our relationships.”

The district will have two years to expend the money from the grant. The following items will be the focus of the money:

1. Building secure vestibules (greeting areas) at all schools
2. Ballistic film (hard-to-penetrate) on all interior classroom corridor doors with windows
3. Upgrade bus radio system from analogue to digital
4. Additional trainings for staff, students and families

“Whatever systems we build need to be sustainable,” says Superintendent Dan Snowberger. “Our intention is to move the needle in preparedness and recovery.”

For more information about the School Security Disbursement grant, please visit the Colorado Department of Education’s website HERE.

For more information about school safety and security, visit the Safety page on durangoschools.org.