Board approves $133,934 school-safety grant spending plan, including intercom upgrades and metal detector purchases
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Summary
The board unanimously approved a plan to spend a $133,934 safety grant on a TOYA two-way intercom to link campuses, fencing at the elementary campus ($11,000), two more open-gate security systems ($49,019), and electronic access upgrades at the ABC site; administration also discussed purchasing metal-gate weapons detectors (~$19,000 each).
The Nashville School District Board of Education voted 5–0 to approve administration's plan to spend a $133,934 school-safety grant on several targeted security upgrades across district campuses.
Mister Graham, Superintendent, said the grant award amounted to $133,934 and recommended using it to complete the TOYA two-way intercom system so all four campuses can communicate, to install a fence at Nashville Elementary (estimated $11,000), to buy additional open-gate security systems (quoted at $49,019 for the sets described), and to add electronic access-control doors at the ABC site so that facility access matches other campuses. He described the funding as restricted: “you really had some parameters that if you didn't get covered in phase 1 of the safety grant that you needed to get that done in phase 2 of the safety grant.”
Administration also discussed purchasing two additional portable weapons-gate detectors, which were described as costing about $19,000 each; current practice has two units rotated among campus locations and events, and administration said additional units would reduce daily transport and setup demands.
A board member moved to approve the safety-grant spending plan as presented; another board member seconded. The vote was 5–0 in favor.
During discussion administration explained funding relationships for the ABC site: the Arkansas ABC grant (through the DeQueen-Mena cooperative) funds most of ABC's teaching salaries while the district provides the facility and pays a portion of personnel costs. Board members asked whether state legislation under consideration—multiple bills discussed later in the meeting—would affect the district's ability to fund new statewide mandates such as panic-alert devices.