Local Schools Get School Resource Officer Grants

Five Copper Country school districts will be getting money from the state to add law enforcement presence in their buildings.

Grants were announced yesterday for:
• L’Anse – $165,000
• Houghton – $161,250
• Hancock – $142,500
• Lake Linden-Hubbell – $103,454
• Ontonagon – $18,840

Statewide, nearly $25 million was handed out to 195 school districts, which educate more than 334,000 students.

School resource officers are police officers. The grants will help pay for their salaries, training, and additional expenses over a three-year period. Each district will need to provide matching funds.

The Hancock School District is already working with the City of Hancock to set an officer in place.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer said the grants will help make sure children, teachers and staff are safe at school.  

A panel consisting of representatives from education and policing awarded the grants, giving priority to schools and school districts without a school resource officer currently in place, as well as schools from more communities with lower student enrollment and less total per pupil funding.