School Safety Upgrades Featured in Anderson Insights

The following article appeared in the July 2023 edition of Anderson Insights, the official newsletter of Anderson Township. You can view the full publication here.

The Forest Hills School District is implementing multiple new safety measures across all nine school buildings. The district received more than $600,000 in competitive grant funding to help pay for security upgrades through Ohio’s K-12 School Safety Grant Program.

“This funding will make it possible to implement important safety improvements that we otherwise would not have been able to afford in the near future,” said John Eckert, Forest Hills School District director of business operations. “We are grateful for this support from the state of Ohio in our continued efforts to create a safe, secure and welcoming school environment for all members of our community.”

The district worked with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office to review current safety measures and determine what areas would benefit most through potential grant funding. In the grant application, Forest Hills identified upgrades to school surveillance systems and strengthening entryway security as two target areas.

Additional protections at all school entrances have already started being installed at all school entrances and the work is expected to be completed prior to the return of students in mid-August. Upgrades to surveillance cameras and related software are also in the works, and that project will continue into the school year until it is completed.