Every school year, Missouri’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) gives out 70 million dollars to public and private schools so they can advance safety measures. Eligible districts have to register and the state provides them with a portion of the funds. But not every district got an allotment of the money; in fact, Rockwood was one of only nine districts to miss out on the financial backing.
Rockwood Superintendent Dr. Curtis Cain says that there’s two rounds of funding. Rockwood applied for both and still doesn’t have an answer to why the district did not receive the grant.
“As it relates to the Missouri School Safety Grant Program [we have no clarity on why Rockwood did not receive the grant]. There were two rounds of funding related to the School Safety Grant Program in 2023 and as a district, we submitted an application during both rounds,” Cain said.
Cain said how the lack of the grant money will not affect the safety of students and staff. He also says what Rockwood’s plans are for the future.
“We were surprised and disappointed to not receive any funding after applying through the two rounds for the safety grant and of course, we would have put those safety dollars to good use. But not receiving the grant should have zero impact on our students and staff, because we were not making plans for funds that we did not yet have. We will continue to use our existing resources and work closely with our community first responders to do everything we can to keep Rockwood patrons and buildings safe and secure,” Cain said.
Proposition 3 was a levy transfer that Rockwood wanted passed last fall. The proposition allowed the district to allocate money differently, so less is in savings and more can be used for projects.
Cain said how The district allocates funds after the passing of Proposition 3.
“Thanks to the passing of Prop 3 last fall, we will have dedicated funding each year to use toward safety. Next year, we will use those funds to purchase radio communications to enhance emergency communications in our buildings. We also have plans to install monitoring on every exterior door in the district with pin pad access to decrease our reliance on a keyed locking system. These are just some of the added layers we are looking to enhance the safety protocols we already have in place in Rockwood. We are always looking at the latest guidance and how [and] where we can improve the safety of our schools,” Cain said.
Head principal Dr. Emily McCown says Proposition 3 provided Summit with new safety features and the most important thing when it comes to safety is educating people, which requires no money.
“Summit still has a number of safety features that have been improved over the last few years as a result of Prop 3. Rockwood continues to review and research best practices to ensure our facilities and practices are up to date. Some of the best safety measures and interventions are the education pieces for our staff and students ensuring that they know what to do and that those drills and conversations are regularly occurring. Also continuing to reiterate with our students to communicate with an adult if they hear or see something that is concerning. The education piece is free,” McCown said.
A representative from DESE for the state of Missouri said some characteristics schools not selected have in common.
“Schools not selected typically share similar characteristics … relatively new buildings, relatively low percentage of students from poverty, relatively low scores on the needs assessment, indicating a high level of preparedness,” DESE said.
Kirkwood has a 9% poverty rate and Rockwood’s rate is 11.9%. Kirkwood got $300,000, but Rockwood got nothing.
Rockwood’s safety director, Ty Dennis, said that the district has no clarification to why Kirkwood is receiving funding with a lower poverty rate.
“We have not received clarification as to why we did not receive Missouri School Safety Grant Program funds, but we will work with the resources we have,” Dennis said.