A new state law requiring school districts to have at least one full-time security personnel has left Upper Adams wondering how it will fund the position long-term.
Senate Bill 700, signed into law in July, changed the Pennsylvania Public School Code to include this requirement, according to an Aug. 8 letter sent to superintendents by the PA Department of Education and PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency, or PCCD.
The change “requires all school districts to have at least one full-time school security personnel who has completed their requisite training on duty during the school day beginning with the 2024-25 school year,” the letter reads.
The district may hire a school police officer, school resource officer or school security officer, according to the letter. Each comes with its own set of requirements.
At Tuesday’s school board committee meeting, Superintendent Wesley Doll said the district is in touch with G-Force Security Solutions to see if it can provide such services. G-Force currently provides security to the district, typically at after-school events.
Looking ahead, the big question facing the district is cost.
Doll said Upper Adams received a PCCD grant of nearly $131,000 that can be used over the next two years to help fund the salary and benefits for this new position. However, the district will still need to find a long-term funding solution.
Kay Hollabaugh asked Doll if the PCCD grant could be renewed. He did not know if that would be possible, though the district has received PCCD funds in the past.
“So we’re trying to figure out, can we cover the cost of this as much as possible over a two year period?” Doll said. “I don’t know if it’s something that we would need to build into the budget in future budget years, but to start with a mandate, it looks like they put the money there for us to utilize.”
Gerald Walmer wanted to know what other funding might be available to districts.
“The money that we know we’re able to utilize at this point is the PCCD grant money,” Doll said. “Beyond that, I’m not sure.”
The letter from PCCD and the PA Department of Education states there may be grant funding of up to $50,000 per school district to support the training and compensation of school security personnel. This depends on the “availability of funds,” and would not begin until July 1, 2025, according to the letter.
A one-year waiver to hire security personnel may be granted by the School Safety and Security Commission at the PCCD if a district can prove it “acted in good faith” but was unable to find someone to fill the position.
“I would imagine in some rural school districts in Pennsylvania this is going to be very challenging for some districts to put into place, which is probably why they have a waiver to start,” Doll said.
Doll expects to learn more after Sept. 11, when the commission is expected to adopt a formal waiver process.
The school board will next meet Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.
Mary Grace Kauffman, freelance reporter, worked six years as a full-time reporter for newspapers in Pennsylvania and Maryland. She has covered topics including business, crime, education, government and features. Mary Grace has a bachelor's degree in communication/journalism from Shippensburg University. She resides in Adams County.