Souderton Gets $40K Grant For New School Police Officer

SOUDERTON, PA — Souderton School District has received a significant grant from the state to hire a new school police officer.

The $40,000 grant comes from the state Department of Education's Safe Schools Grant program.

The grants for add new school police officers in districts across the state are meant to "address school violence by establishing or enhancing school security."

There are four Safe School programs who announced funding winners this week: equipment grants, program grants, grants for school police officers, and grants for school resource officers.

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In addition to Souderton, two other Montgomery County schools — Koshelete Yeshiva and Kids in the Village Early Learning Center — received $40,000 grants for a school police officer.

More than $2.5 million in grant funding for new school police officers across the state was announced this week.

In addition, three Montgomery County districts also received $60,000 for the same purpose: Norristown, Hatboro-Horsham, and Wissahickon.

Resource officers and police officers fill similar roles but there are differences in who employs them. Typically, resource officers are fully authorized cops, employed by the local police department, and assigned to the district. School police officers are employed by the district and their jurisdiction does not extend beyond the district.

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