Sen. Harckham Gains State Grant for Hendrick Hudson Schools

New York State Senator Pete Harckham announced today that $50,000 in state grant funding has been awarded to the Hendrick Hudson School District for the purchase of state-of-the-art security equipment for its schools.

The awarded grant funding, which Harckham secured within the State and Municipal Facilities Program (SAM), will reimburse the Hendrick Hudson School District for total costs associated with the purchase and installation of five security cameras, new door locks and hardware, and the replacement of an exterior double door. Some of the grant funding will go toward a district-wide emergency reporting and alert system as well.

“Maintaining and upgrading security systems at schools is a vital part of ensuring the safety of our young residents,” said Harckham. “I’m pleased to have been able to secure the grant funding for the Hendrick Hudson School District so important security and infrastructure modifications could be made at several schools throughout the district right away.”

The Hendrick Hudson School District serves approximately 2,300 K-12 students. The district has five school buildings—three elementary schools, a middle school and a high school. Updating security systems at the district’s schools was noted as a priority in its required five-year facilities plan, the Building Condition Survey, which was completed in 2016.

“We're very thankful to Senator Harckham for his leadership, advocacy and support in moving our application forward to receive $50,000 in grant funds to improve our facilities,” said Joseph Hochreiter, superintendent of the Hendrick Hudson School District. “Specifically, these funds will be used to further improve our security infrastructure with additional security cameras, initiating a district-wide emergency reporting system, as well as establishing an emergency command center. These funds allow us to continue to build our safety systems without using property tax dollars to do so. We hank the senator for his consistent advocacy.”

In the past year, Harckham has secured $3.8 million in SAM funding for numerous community projects and municipal initiatives in Westchester County, including upgrades at the Veteran’s Pavilion in the Village of Buchanan, new trails at Fort Hill Park in City of Peekskill and safety improvements in Cortlandt’s Town Hall—all representing substantial savings to county taxpayers.

SAM funding is among the grant programs administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) to support community and economic development.