The Great Falls Public Schools district is again pursuing a School Violence Prevention Program grant through the U.S. Department of Justice, with plans to use the funds to replace the aged intercom systems in schools and provide additional door security to those part in the HANDS before and after school programs.

The district had applied for and received the same federal grant in 2021 and those funds covered a large portion of the effort to replace the video surveillance systems at Charles M. Russell and Great Falls high schools, Paris Gibson Education Center, and North and East middle schools.

GFPS conducts annual review of school safety, student wellness [2024]

That project funding was supplemented by the technology fund and general fund budgets.

During the May 27 board meeting, Jeff Williams, GFPS IT director, said that the district will request bids for the replacement of the intercom system and additional door access for schools participating in the HANDS program.

GFPS is planning to replace the intercom systems, which are largely original to building construction, according to Williams’ agenda report.

The intercom systems also control the bell schedule in the schools and can be used to for building administration to contact specific classrooms and provide school-wide notifications including some emergency announcements.

The HANDS program provides before and after school programming at many elementary schools. HANDS staff aren’t district employees, so they don’t have access to the security system.

Williams is recommending using the federal grant funds toward the additional of a secondary door access security system, such as the AiPhone system already in use at some schools, to allow HANDS staff to see who is requesting access to the building and can allow access to parents dropping off or picking up students.

The estimated cost for the secondary door access system is $10,000 per school, according to Williams’ agenda report.

If the district receives the federal grant and awards winning bids for those projects over $80,000, it will be required to provide 25 percent of the funding of any projects up to the grant limit of $500,000, Williams wrote.

Any costs above the grant limit would be funded by either the technology fund or general fund.

The board approved advertising for bids for the projects during the May 27 meeting.