By KAITLIN RYAN

News Staff Writer

ALPENA — The Michigan State Police announced Wednesday the names of schools in the state that received part of a $25 million grant to purchase equipment and technology to improve overall school safety.

Statewide, there were 114 public school districts, 42 private schools, 22 public charter schools, and 10 intermediate school districts received part of the grant.

In Northeast Michigan, Alcona Community Schools received $247,519, and Alpena Public Schools received $91,523.

Alcona Superintendent Dan O’Connor said he and his staff were excited to find out they had received such a large amount from the grant.

O’Connor said Alcona’s previous superintendent, Shawn Thornton, had gotten the school started in the grant process and applied in previous grant cycles without receiving the money. However, that did not deter them from continuing to apply.

For the new grant application, O’Connor said the school has been working to revise and keep everything up to date to meet the eligibility requirements in hopes of getting the money during one of the grant cycles.

“Addressing the key and lock issues was a significant need, especially in the secondary building,” O’Connor said.

This time around, the school consulted with a lock and key specialist, Emergency Coordinator Buffy Carr, and local law enforcement talked with a trooper from the Michigan State Police-Alpena Post to make the best application possible.

“We were thrilled to receive almost” the maximum amount of $250,000, O’Connor said. “Never in my wildest dreams did we expect to get that much.”

The money will be used to improve security for the school entrances, specifically focused on locks, to make the school more secure.

Alpena received $91,523. Superintendent John VanWagoner said they were happy to get the money, and it is a great way to get started on the variety of security updates they want to make at the schools.

The money they received will go toward updating security doorways and access controls on some of the buildings. VanWagoner said that, eventually, they would also like to install cameras outside the buildings and implement other security improvements.

But, for now, the grant money will help address security on exterior doors.

“It will be a great way to show the community what it will look like and how it will be beneficial,” VanWagoner said.

The schools have until September 2019 to spend the funds.

Kaitlin Ryan can be reached at kryan@thealpenanews.com or at 358-5693.