BREITUNG TOWNSHIP SUPERINTENDENT Craig Allen gains entry to Woodland Elementary’s instructional area through a secured vestibule with a card-only door lock. More such vestibules will be installed in Breitung Township Schools in the coming year thanks to a Michigan State Police 2018 Competitive School Safety Grant. (Theresa Proudfit/Daily News photo)

KINGSFORD — Several area school districts will make significant safety and security upgrades, thanks to recent grants totaling more than $400,000 from the Michigan State Police.

The Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District, Breitung Township Schools, Norway-Vulcan Area Schools and Bishop Baraga Catholic Schools are among 188 school districts in the state set to get a share of $25 million in Michigan State Police 2018 Competitive School Safety Grants.

Schools could apply for grants in two categories, the second requiring a 25 percent match.

Breitung Township Schools received $217,990, Bishop Baraga $24,860 and Norway-Vulcan $9,053 from the first category that required no match. The DIISD was awarded $163,868 in the matching grant category, which allowed requesting up to $1 million versus a $250,000 limit without a match.

“We have $218,490 to spend, but 25 percent of that will be our match,” DIISD Superintendent Wendy Warmuth explained. “You could only apply for one or the other, and we had some money set aside. Since we were able to make a match, we thought it would be the right thing to do.”

The DIISD has four buildings that will benefit from the grant: Bates Center in Iron County, the Nordic Center at North Dickinson County Schools and the Willis Center and Technical Education Center, both in Kingsford.

The DIISD plans to make such security upgrades as secure vestibules, security film to make the windows shatter-proof, lock bolt monitors, door barricades and safety signage.

The primary goal is to stop or slow down an intruder getting into the buildings, giving public safety the time needed to respond in the event of a crisis.

“Many of the special education students are nonverbal, in wheelchairs, or utilize other assistive devices. Many of these students require more time than traditional students to get into lock-down positions,” Warmuth said. “The Willis Center, which doesn’t right now have a double entry, and our other areas remotes sites where we have a lot of our special ed and early childhood … if there was an emergency, they are going to take a lot longer to get back into their classrooms to get secure,”

The DIISD also will place concrete barrier poles at the entrances.

Breitung Township Schools will add secured vestibules and shatter-resistant windows as well.

“The first thing we were advised to do — and we did this years ago — was the single-point entry. Then the buzz-in system became the next phase, and we thought this was going to upset people, but we are getting great reviews from the parents and students,” Breitung Township Schools Superintendent Craig Allen said. “Then we started in Woodland with the vestibules, the entries into the instructional areas. We made those card read-only, so you can only get in there if you have a purpose to get in there. Now with this grant, we will be able to secure the other parts of the building, such as the gymnasiums, the cafeterias, the entryways, the offices and so forth.”

Kingsford High School Principal Lyle Smithson, too, noted the favorable response to past security measures at the school.

“With the buzzer system and the security entrance, the feedback from parents and community members have been fantastically positive. Even our students understand the importance of building security in this day and age and have made great comments about the steps we have taken as a school district to ensure a safe environment for all the kids in this building,” Smithson said.

BTS also will install new public address and clock systems at Woodland Elementary and Kingsford High School.

“We are hoping the PA and clock systems can be done during Christmas break, so there is less disruptive to education. So when we come back from the holiday that piece of the project will be complete,” Smithson said.

Bishop Baraga Schools will use their money on the main entry to the building, adding an extra set of security doors and a window “so the public can have access to our office without entering the school,” Principal Angela Oller said. “We almost got the full amount we requested, so we are really excited about it.”

Norway-Vulcan Superintendent Lou Steigerwald said the district will place impact-resistant film to windows, improve the public address system in the schools and install emergency lockdown devices on doors.

Grant applications were due Sept. 13. They required a project overview along with a complete budget on how the money would be spent and an emergency operations plan, including training staff and community to use the added security measures.

“It’s very specific, and it was high energy to get it done,” said Kingsford High School Assistant Principal Doug Roberts, who collaborated with finance director Jennifer Huotari to get the paperwork in order.

Breitung Township Schools and the DIISD also worked closely with local public safety on a security team assessment.

“Elaine Pearce took a big part of the lead for us; she had worked as a public safety person in a former career and she helped make sure we had an emergency operation plan in place. Before you could have this approved, you had to have your plan ready and signed off by public safety people and the state police. If you didn’t have that plan, you wouldn’t be eligible,” Warmuth said.

She added, “Everybody worked together, because safety is something that is obviously important to everyone, and everyone knew we had such a short time frame.”

The schools expect to start work on the security improvements as soon as possible, since the grant money must be spent by the end of next October.

“Once we get contractors in place,” Allen said, “we are a go.”