During last night’s Warsaw Community School Board Work Session, Greg Schroeder, director of building and grounds and indoor air quality coordinator, announced the awarding of a grant from the state of Indiana for a $50,000 matching grant to be utilized for school safety measures.

According to Schroeder, all four school districts in the area were awarded a grant following an announcement on Nov. 1 by Indiana Governor Mike Pence that more than $9 million in grant funding to local schools and school corporations through the Secured School Safety Grant Program was available.

Schroeder stated that, though the grant can be utilized to employ a school resource officer, conduct a threat assessment, or purchase equipment to restrict access to the school or expedite the notification of first responders, the school corporation plans to utilize the funds to bring all buildings to the same safety standard levels in the corporation.

“I’d rather not go into detail, but not all of our buildings are at the same standards,” explained Schroeder, “so our goal is to get equity across the system.”

In other news, according to WCS Chief Financial Officer Kevin Scott, the lack of bus drivers in three of the school’s routes has been a concern for the district.

Scott stated during the personnel report that the situation is not unique to the school system. He said several local agencies are also looking for bus drivers at this time.

Scott urged anyone interested to come forward stating, “On average, of 10 folks that show interest, we only get one or two of them who are able to drive and we’ve lost a couple in the last couple of weeks. It’s always a challenge.

The loss of bus drivers and lack of new drivers has caused some minor problems for the school district. According to Scott, the start time of elementary basketball games was pushed back due to a lack of availability of transportation.