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NEW MATAMORAS – Frontier Local School District officials recently approved a state funded grant that will provide equipment designed to protect schools.
The Tech Linking Safety Grant will install two cameras of each of the district's three schools. The cameras will scan license plates that enter school grounds and search a database for registered sex offenders.
The grant is valued at $29,923.24 and funded through Attorney General Dave Yost's office.
If a registered sex offender is found on the database, school officials and the Sheriff's Office will be notified via email or text.
Treasurer Lee Howard said the school board voted to accept the grant and approved an agreement with Turnkey Technology, the firm providing the equipment, at their Feb. 15 meeting.
Superintendent Beth Brown said she decided to apply for the grant after speaking with Mark Warden, chief deputy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
"His reasoning was, you can look up sexual predators in the database or someone you don't want on your campus, such as if they have a restraining order," she said.
Brown said Warden told her having the security cameras in their location would be beneficial to the Sheriff's Office.
"He also said, since you're so far north in Washington County, it can help them look for a suspect in case they happened to drive by the high school. They will have access to the camera system."
Brown said she thinks the new cameras will assist in the district's mission of school safety.
"Our biggest priority is to keep our students safe. We put in a lot of financial resources to do so, " she said.
Brown said Turnkey Technology officials will install the equipment in March.
Kristen Hainkel can be contacted at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com