Duluth schools, police, awarded federal safety grant

The city of Duluth was awarded $468,750 for its efforts to improve school security.
The Duluth Police Department and the Duluth school district worked together to apply for the two-year grant, meant to improve coordination with law enforcement as well as technology that would speed up notification to authorities during an emergency.
It will also go toward law enforcement training in preventing student violence and measures that would better secure the entries to schools. Those include background check and identification systems for school buildings and an advanced camera system for monitoring certain areas in schools.
The grants were awarded for the first time under the federal Stop School Violence Act. Hennepin County and the Minneapolis school district also received money under the act.
Two Duluth schools were also awarded state grant money this week for similar efforts.
The federal grant money will be overseen by the city, which benefits Duluth district schools.