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District seeks DOJ school-violence protection grant; officials describe cameras, door-entry and device-monitoring plans
Summary
DeKalb administrators described a third attempt to win a U.S. Department of Justice School Violence Protection Program grant (COPS) and outlined how proposed funds would match local outlays for cameras, door-entry, servers and cybersecurity monitoring, including student-device keyword alerts
District officials told the DeKalb CUSD 428 board they are seeking a competitive School Violence Protection Program (SVPP) grant through the U.S. Department of Justices Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office and that the award would require a local match (approximately 25 percent of funds awarded).
Emma, the districts grant writer, said the application is competitive and the district has pursued this grant in prior years without success; administrators are requesting the boards authority to submit an application and to provide the locally required match if awarded. "It is dependent on it's a 25% of what we are granted," Emma said when summarizing the matching requirement.
Administration explained the planned uses align with the districts safety and security program: camera rotation and storage, door-entry systems, servers and other hardware, and cybersecurity monitoring tied to student devices. A district speaker outlined an automated monitoring system that flags keywords and phrases on students' assigned 1:1 devices and generates notifications to designated staff when the system determines the content is severe enough to warrant follow-up; the speaker described multi-tiered alerts and call chains that can lead to welfare checks even at off-hours.
Board members asked whether certain city contributions (for example SRO costs) could count as an in-kind match; administrators said match must typically be for eligible capital or equipment expenditures and recommended cameras, radios and similar physical security items as match-eligible.
Why it matters: The grant would reduce district capital needs for safety technology but requires district funds to match any award; the district emphasized the grant would be used for infrastructure that administration said the district would likely need to replace or upgrade over time anyway.
Community concerns and context: In a separate item the board discussed the Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of DeKalb on school resource officers; city council members' comments prompted questions at the board meeting about whether the district and city are aligned on SRO roles. Administrators clarified SROs are intended to build connections and support school safety but said the SROs' jurisdictional authority varies by municipality.
Next steps: Administration will file the grant application and, if awarded, return with detailed budget and recommended match sources; the board indicated consensus to bring the item back for formal approval if awarded.
