RITCHIE ANNOUNCES NEARLY $70,000 IN FUNDING TO IMPROVE SAFETY AT LOCAL SCHOOLS

State Senator Patty Ritchie has announced she has secured nearly $70,000 in special funding to help improve security at schools throughout Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence Counties. Funding delivered by Senator Ritchie will be used to make security upgrades and help districts purchase things like security cameras and radios.

“There are few things more important than creating a safe learning environment for students and educators,” said Senator Ritchie.

“I’m pleased to provide this funding, which will help to ensure schools throughout the region I represent are secure and that children are able to focus on what’s most important—namely, learning the skills they need to be successful in the future.”

Funding secured by Senator Ritchie will be used to make upgrades to security systems in the following school districts:

Alexandria Central School District

Sackets Harbor Central School District

Thousand Islands Central School District

Hannibal Central School District

Canton Central School Districts

“When children get on the bus in the morning, learning should be the thing they and their parents are most focused on, not whether they’re safe at school,” said Alexandria Central School District Superintendent Kyle Faulkner.

“Here at the Alexandria Central School District, we work every day to make sure students are able to learn without worrying about threats to their safety.  We’d like to thank Senator Ritchie for this funding and for recognizing the importance of making our schools as safe as possible.”

“While we work hard to teach students and faculty the skills they need to stay safe in the event of an emergency, education can only go so far,” said Hannibal Central School District Interim Superintendent Pete Backus.

“New equipment—like the security radios we will be able to purchase with this funding—is key to making sure our students and faculty are safe at all times.  We thank Senator Ritchie for being a partner in making our district a safer place.”

“As recent events have shown us, violence can happen anywhere—and that’s why we always need to be prepared and have the safeguards in place to prevent tragedies from happening in our schools,” said Canton Central School District Superintendent Bill Gregory. 

“Through this support from Senator Ritchie, the Canton Central School District will be able to purchase much-needed additional security cameras.  This new equipment will help our district be more secure, and we thank Senator Ritchie for this vitally important funding.”

Funding secured by Senator Ritchie continues her efforts to make schools throughout Central and Northern New York safer for students and educators.  Last year, she was able to deliver nearly $70,000 for security upgrades at 15 school districts throughout the region.