ST. PAUL – State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, announces school districts throughout Minnesota are set to receive a combined $30 million from the state to fund safety initiatives.
The supplemental aid must be used for expenditures as authorized under the Safe Schools Levy. This includes a wide variety of facility and programming purposes such as police liaison services, counseling, school security, gang resistance education training and other crime prevention and safety measures for students and staff.
“School safety is not a partisan issue; we all want our kids to be safe,” Anderson said. “This allocation of funding will help our local schools and citizens cover the costs of safety initiatives they choose to improve their facilities.”
The money comes from a one-time Safe Schools Supplemental Aid appropriation in the state’s new education budget. The $30 million will be provided to school districts and charter schools on a per-pupil basis. All school districts encompassing Anderson’s House District 12B will receive funding, including Albany ($61,729), Alexandria ($146,324), Belgrade-B-E ($21,688), Benson ($28,415), Holdingford ($37,762), Long Prairie-GE ($32,285), Melrose ($46,113), Minnewaska ($41,353), Osakis ($27,695), Paynesville ($32,369), Rocori ($72,382), Sauk Centre ($37,214), Upsala ($13,024).
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