Securing schools | Iowa schools use state funding for security measures

This is the third part of a multi-part series on school safety in Iowa.

After the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in which a high school student killed 19 students and two teachers, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds decided it was time to increase funding for school safety measures in Iowa.

On June 14, 2022, Reynolds announced the Governor’s School Safety Initiative, providing $100 million in school safety funding to Iowa schools. This initiative was funded by the American Rescue Plan Act and the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, also known as ESSER.

The $100 million was divided into several areas aimed at school safety. $75 million was allocated for a school safety improvement fund specifically aimed at safety improvements in schools.

An additional $7.5 million was allocated for risk assessment of 1,500 K-12 school buildings in the state, and $6 million was allocated for digital technology to map critical incidents. Another $4.5 million was earmarked for radios in schools, and $1.5 million was earmarked for digital technology for threat reporting and monitoring.

The remaining $5.5 million was for operating funding for the Governor’s School Safety Bureau, which runs through 2026. The office’s mission is to help local schools identify and respond to security threats by providing emergency radios to schools and conducting training for school personnel and law enforcement.

Dave Wilson, the emergency management coordinator for Johnson County, said the Iowa governor’s office began strengthening school security measures after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook in 2012 that killed 26 people.

Wilson, the state association’s president at the time, said the governor’s office had put together a school safety task force. Six years later, in 2018, Wilson said high-quality emergency response plans were codified for schools in Iowa.

He said this has led to an increased need for training and school safety assessments in schools across Iowa. That’s why Reynolds created the Governor’s School Safety Initiative to provide funding for these school safety measures.

The $50,000 from that initiative had to be spent by January 2024, and Wilson and his team worked with schools to determine how the money would be spent. Wilson and his team would assess the vulnerabilities and then help set up physical security measures such as cameras, reinforced glass tempering and security locks.

The Iowa City Community School District is among those that have implemented physical security measures to protect students and staff in the event of a security breach.

According to the district’s website, Iowa City schools have installed secured building entrances, locked classrooms, security cameras, shatterproof window films, security systems, emergency radios and mass notification systems, and have removed fire suppression stations from most school areas except the main office and maintenance areas.

Kate Callahan, director of student services for Iowa City schools, said the district created a committee last year made up of department heads to determine the best use of security features in the district.

“We meet weekly and focus on reviewing safety features and how we can improve them at the district level,” she said. “It was definitely an increased focus.”

In an email to The Daily IowanDavis Eidahl, the superintendent of the Solon Community School District, wrote that his district made several safety improvements last school year.

These improvements included modernizing video surveillance systems by replacing older cameras with new ones and nearly doubling the number installed.

“These cameras provide better coverage and are accessible to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department in emergencies,” Eidahl wrote.

Additionally, Eidahl wrote that the district has updated its key fob system for exterior door access to its schools to provide a more secure system and faster lockout options. The district has also installed films on the interior glass of classrooms to ensure their safety in the event of an emergency.

Funding for these improvements came in part from the $50,000 Governor’s School Safety Initiative and from a general obligation bond approved by voters in March 2024.

The safety initiative provided $200,000 to the Solon Community School District, and the district also used approximately $165,000 from its general obligation commitment to complete safety improvements.

While these physical security measures represent a step forward in ensuring school safety, Wilson said there is still a need for training.