Middletown Not Eligible For Federal Grants To Pay For Police In School

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — It has now been revealed that the Middletown school district did not qualify for federal funds that would have offset the cost of having an armed police officer in every school.

"Simply put, Middletown did not meet the grant criteria," said Middletown school board president Frank Capone on Tuesday.

Capone said he is deeply unhappy with the way the federal government decides which American school districts get priority.

"We have schools with children and staff members in each building, just like New Brunswick and Perth Amboy," he said. "You should never stipulate income level to the safety of students and teachers."

Federal grants were doled out in October, and preference was given to school districts in lower-income areas, according to the Department of Justice. Perth Amboy received $1.25 million to hire 10 new police officers in its schools. New Brunswick will receive $250,000 to hire two school police officers.

The funding is part of the DOJ's Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS Hiring Program.

Capone said the Middletown school board "looked into" applying for the COPS grants, but was told its application would not be accepted.

"We looked into it and were told we were not eligible," he said. "Preference was given to applicants in areas of persistent poverty, applicants from rural areas, etc. ... What's astonishing is that Abbott districts like Perth Amboy and New Brunswick — already receiving the most funding in the state — were given grants to fund officers while suburban school districts like Middletown continue to be forced to fund their own."

"Once again, the hardworking Middletown taxpayers were forgotten," said Capone. "You can't put a money value on anyone's lives, and Middletown shouldn't have to meet this criteria to make sure safety is there for the students and adults in our schools."

There is enormous demand for federal money to pay for armed police officers in schools: In 2022, the COPS Office received 711 applications; only 25 percent received the funding, according to the Department of Justice.

As per this Department of Justice fact sheet, consideration was given to applicants that met any of the following criteria:

• Applicants in an area with persistent poverty
• Applicants that commit to recruiting officers from the community in which they will serve and/or commit to recruiting officers who are willing to relocate to areas of high crime or fragmented police-community relations
• Agencies that require evidence-based cultural sensitivity training for officers
• Applicants that experienced an unanticipated catastrophic event
• Applicants that commit to hiring at least one military veteran
• Applicants from rural areas

Preference was also given to American towns and cities that have "high rates of gun violence" and "other areas of violent crime."

It is no small expense to have an armed police officer in all 16 Middletown schools:

The first batch of 11 officers were sworn in in August, and the district has a goal of hiring 25 officers in total. At a rate of $35 an hour, paying for the officers is projected to cost the Middletown school district $1.4 million the first year (2022-23) and $1.3 million the second year (2023-2024).

That cost is entirely borne by the Middletown school district, and Middletown property taxpayers.

As part of that Dept. of Justice funding, the Middletown school district did receive $491,000 in federal money that will be used to install special key card-only access doors throughout the school system.

But Capone said he would have preferred federal funds to pay for the officers — not security doors.

"It's hugely expensive (to pay for the officers). It would have been a much more impactful grant if we could use this money toward our Class-3 law enforcement officers," said Capone.

As announced by the Department of Justice, these are all the towns in New Jersey that received federal money to pay for police officers in schools: https://cops.usdoj.gov/chp-awa...

• City of Atlantic City $1.875 million to hire 15 officers
• Cinnaminson Township $375,000 to hire 3 officers
• Harrison $625,000 to hire 5 officers
• Jersey City $1.875 million to hire 15 officers
• New Brunswick $250,000 to hire 2 officers
• Newark $1.875 million to hire 15 officers
• Perth Amboy $1.25 million to hire 10 officers
• Pleasantville $2 million to hire 6 officers
• Union City $3.75 million to hire 30 officers

More on the topic of school security: Special Card-Access Security Doors Coming To Middletown Schools (Oct. 19)