ST. PAUL – State Rep. Nels Pierson, R-Rochester, announces school districts throughout Minnesota are receiving a combined $30 million from the state to fund safety initiatives.
The supplemental aid must be used for expenditures as authorized under the Safe Schools Levy. This includes a wide variety of facility and programming purposes such as police liaison services, counseling, school security, gang resistance education training and other crime prevention and safety measures for students and staff.
“Parents deserve to expect that their children will return home safely when they send them off to school in the morning,” Pierson said. “It is our responsibility to honor that priority. This school safety funding is provided in a way that local school districts and citizens can make safety improvements based on their particular needs, helping to maximize the effectiveness of our tax dollars.”
The money comes from a one-time Safe Schools Supplemental Aid appropriation in the state’s new education budget. The $30 million will be provided to school districts and charter schools on a per-pupil basis. All school districts encompassing Pierson’s House District 26B will receive funding, including Byron ($72,658), Chatfield ($31,468), Dover-Eyota ($39,431), Hayfield ($24,284), Kasson-Mantorville ($75,458), Plainview-E-M ($50,310), St. Charles ($33,090) and Stewartville ($73,098). Public schools in Rochester receive $605,767, while three academies in the city also receive a combined $18,996.
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