9.11.2008
Joplin, Missouri – Southwest Missouri Congressman Roy Blunt today announced that two area school districts will receive more than $45,000 from the US Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The Webb City and Seneca school districts will receive grants of $25,426 and $19,473, respectively, to purchase surveillance and communication equipment. The grants were requested in cooperation with the Webb City and Seneca police departments.
"Security has become a major concern for schools and addressing that comes with a hefty financial cost," Congressman Blunt said. "These funds will allow schools to provide the safety our children deserve."
Seneca Schools Superintendent Rick Cook said, "We need to upgrade our video cameras on campus that are now a dozen years old. We’ll use these funds to do that and equip our buses with new radios to improve communications with our drivers."
"Working with our local police department we identified some security upgrades this grant will pay for," said Webb City Superintendent Ronald Lankford. "We will improve our security through better door locks and the use of enhanced camera surveillance for our schools."