Penn Hills School District receives state grant to pay for security

Penn Hills School District received a $650,000 state grant to help pay for security.

District business manager Eileen Navish said the grant, which came through the state Department of Community & Economic Development, was part of $3.3 million in state funds accounted for last year in lieu of a tax increase with the 2019-20 budget.

School board members unanimously voted Sept. 30 to accept the DCED grant, which was for security from July 1 through the end of this year.

Prior to this grant, only $2 million of the promised funds through state Sen. Jay Costa’s office, D-Forest Hills, had made it to district coffers. Those funds were used for general operations.

Navish said the district spent about $401,000 for security from last year through mid-March when schools statewide were shut down due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Most middle school guards were replaced this year with youth engagement specialists from Pressley Ridge, a Pittsburgh-based organization that offers various counseling and specialized services designated to help children and their families.

A retired police officer, provided by the district’s current security company OSA Global Security, will maintain a security presence in the middle school lobby.

There are guards at the high school and elementary school.

School board President Erin Vecchio recently spoke with Costa about when the district would get the estimated $650,000 remaining of the $3.3 million, and if more state help was available.

Vecchio said Costa pledged to send Penn Hills the rest of the money by the end of the year and was working on $2 million in grants for the current school year.

“The legislators have been holding it,” said Vecchio. “We’re just waiting for Harrisburg to figure it out. We all know how fast they work.”