The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) today announced awarded $3.6 million in federal grants designed to strengthen school safety across Maryland.

According to an MSDE press release:

A five-year, $2.6 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education will allow Maryland to implement the Maryland School Emergency Preparedness Program, a partnership between MSDE, local school systems, the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and local emergency managers. In addition, a three-year, $1 million grant from the US Department of Justice, will allow MSDE to implement a new violence prevention model in schools across the State.

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Dr. Karen Salmon, State Superintendent of Schools, said the grants will allow MSDE to bolster the security of every classroom in Maryland.

“Learning simply cannot take place in a school where students and teachers don’t feel safe,” Dr. Salmon said. “These funds will help Maryland update and modernize emergency operations plans in schools throughout the State, and utilize state-of-the-art techniques to better identify potential threats to student safety.”

The grants are part of an effort to make schools more secure by providing resources for new technology, expanding school safety training, educating faculty and staff, and supporting existing crisis intervention teams.

The funding, authorized by the STOP School Violence Act, is part of more than $70 million in school safety grants that are being dispersed to communities across the United States.

Read the full press release for more information.