Micah Whitlow, director of the West Virginia Department of Education’s Office of School Facilities and Jonah Adkins, director of the WVDE’s Office of Safety & Tiered Support Systems, speak before the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024, in Charleston, W.Va. (Will Price | West Virginia Legislative Photography)
West Virginia’s financially-struggling public schools can’t afford to implement millions of dollars in safety upgrades, including secure front entries and weapon detection systems.
Schools need $258 million in state funding for school safety upgrades for the current school year, according to the state education department. Counties’ financial contributions to schools — levies, taxes and more — don’t cover the bulk of the needs.
The report showed 272 schools still don’t have safe school entries — also known as mantraps — that include two interlocking doors and a control system.
Jonah Adkins, director of the office of safety tiered support systems for the West Virginia Department of Education, told lawmakers on Sunday that cost is keeping schools from implementing safety upgrades.
“We have no money to give,” he said.
There has been an uptick this year in school threats in West Virginia, prompting Gov. Jim Justice to launch a school safety task force in September to address concerns.
“We have people who are targeting children and targeting schools to do bad things,” Adkins said.
Justice last month proposed $1 million for school safety funding but noted that the money wouldn’t “go far enough.” Lawmakers have given schools hundreds of millions of dollars for school safety in the state budget.
Several Republicans said they didn’t understand why safety improvements like mantraps still weren’t completed.
“I imagine most of us think this is the priority of our schools … why haven’t we been addressing this if we have these needs? Is this just a priority problem?” asked Del. Joe Ellington, R-Mercer, who chairs the House Education Committee.
WVDE leaders said state funds weren’t not enough to cover security upgrades as school districts were struggling financially. Student population loss and kids leaving public schools for the state’s education savings account program have continued to funding woes.
Some of the security measures are required in state code.
“The overall cost is pretty prohibitive for some counties,” said Micah Whitlow, director of the WVDE’s Office of School Facilities.
In response, Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, asked, “If these counties can’t afford it, then they don’t have it, right? So, basically it’s on us as the Legislature to provide it.”
Adkins said there were a few grants available for counties to use for safety upgrades. “They are very narrow in scope in what those monies can be used for,” he said.
He told lawmakers that the state should prioritize creating safe entryways in every school, which was estimated to cost around $87 million.
Schools also requested: $32 million for window and door security upgrades; $32 million for security cameras; and $25 million for weapon detection systems.
Schools also need $30 million for prevention and resource officers as some schools continue to share one officer.
Additionally, the WVDE noted that 177 schools still needed additional emergency access roads and currently had only one road in and out of the school. There wasn’t a known price tag.
“ … The needs are a lot … I make a suggestion that we work together to prioritize these needs,” Adkins told lawmakers. “We know we will never be able to do all of this at once, but if we can chip away each year, I think we can make some good headway.”
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