Page 56 - Security Today, November/December 2022

Security Funding "Finding anyone to pursue security funding amongst the myriad of duties already on their shoulders is asking a lot. Even for a would-be volunteer, the level of expertise and time required to research and secure grant money can be overwhelming for anyone not intimately familiar with the process." By Amy Bolin i-PRO’s Grants Department Helps K–12 Educators Find Funding for Security Infrastructure Additional funding for your school’s critical security needs might be out there, but finding it and acquiring it requires a special kind of expertise budget cycle, schools might wish to pursue additional funding from local infrastructure bonds or state/federal grants. However, just because there might be funds available for such projects, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are easy to get. Finding such funding requires the knowledge of where to look. Resources and time for such endeavors are severely constrained for many school districts where educators and staff are required to wear multiple hats. Finding anyone to pursue security funding amongst the myriad of duties already on their shoulders is asking a lot. Even for a would-be volunteer, the level of expertise and time required to research and secure grant money can be overwhelming for anyone not intimately familiar with the process. Grant Experts to the Rescue Realizing the inherent difficultly surrounding the process of researching and applying for grant funding, i-PRO, previously as Panasonic, set up a specialized department nine years ago to assist K–12 institutions in finding and applying for grant funding for security projects. The program is free of charge, and there are no strings attached, as the primary goal of the group is to help navigate the grant process regardless of how the funds are used. The grants department sees itself as a clearinghouse or a gateway with trusted advisors ready to help navigate an otherwise complex process. The department has an impressive track record to date. Over the nine- year period, it has seen 160 grants awarded, bringing in a total of $42.6 million to K–12 and similar 501 (c) (3) entities. For members of the grants department, it’s a labor of love that begins with a conversation about a school’s security challenges. The Search for Funding The first step is for the educational institution to tell the grants department about the security needs of the school. What are the goals of the project? To make the process as easy as possible, the grants team has a tool called the Information Collection Tool (ICT) on the i-PRO website where schools can input their basic information, timeframe (immediate need or planned project), and general security challenges. This generates an assessment request from the grants team and kicks off the process. With this information, the team then ascertains if the security technology improvement project being proposed is a good fit that will allow them to help guide the school Nothing should be more important than school safety and security. However, when it comes to procuring funds to install, improve, or upgrade physical security and infrastructure, many schools find themselves struggling to meet their most basic operating expenses, much less anything else. Schools traditionally receive their budget allocations through a state legislature, via local funding or local school boards where they go through an approval process based on the calendar year. Unfortunately for most school administrators, they must squeeze into that allocation, and there’s never enough to go around. The pandemic only exacerbated this issue by requiring additional unplanned expenses to enable remote learning and create safe, modified learning environments. Given these circumstances, what can a school do to better protect students? If they’re unable to raise these important funds as part their normal 12 campuslifesecurity.com | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022