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SALINEVILLE - The Utica Shale Academy is taking steps to enhance campus safety after securing a $452,975 federal grant.
The community school received the COPS School Violence Prevention Program grant from the U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and will be supplemented with an additional $150,000 match from Utica Shale Academy as part of a total $604,000 plan for staffing and training. Superintendent Bill Watson said changes will be implemented over the next year and include hiring a safety official who will work with county and local law enforcement and adding security equipment to the campus.
"[The new official] will travel to school districts to educate them about the academy's safety plan, ensuring that each student is knowledgeable about the procedures," Watson said. "The training is open to the Salineville Police Department and Columbiana County Sheriff's Office and fosters a more collaborative approach to safety."
The new safety official should be in place over the next year while training is expected to begin Aug. 1. School staff have already undergone instruction on unarmed defense and crisis mitigation. Moreover, the grant will help cover the costs of essential equipment such as cameras and metal detectors to provide an extra layer of protection. Watson said this investment in safety is part of the academy's broader effort to expand and improve its campus facilities, which includes various buildings for different educational purposes and plans for new construction to enhance educational offerings.
He cited state and federal legislators for their substantial support in securing the funding, including Ohio Sen. Michael Rulli (R-33rd District) and state Reps. Monica Robb Blasdel (R-79th District) and Al Cutrona (R-85th District) and U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance and former Rep. Bill Johnson, both R-Ohio. He said their advocacy and assistance were crucial in obtaining the grant.
"The support from the Senators and Representatives not only underlines the importance of political backing in educational advancements, it also reinforces the academy's commitment to creating a safe and enriching learning environment for its students."
The campus currently includes the Hutson Building, which houses general classrooms and Virtual Learning Academy (VLA) programming through the Jefferson County Educational Service Center; the Utica Energy Center at the former Huntington Bank, which is in partnership with Youngstown State University and offers megatronics, hydraulics, pneumatics, AC/DC electric, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's), diesel mechanics and horticulture for students and adults; and the Utica Shale Academy Community Center on Church Street, which includes a fitness center and certified health workers. A new, two-story building is also being eyed for construction next to the outdoor welding lab with classrooms, machinery and facilities for students working with heavy equipment operation and CNC plasma cutting, plus leaders eyed the former Williams Energy district office at 10 E. Main St. for junior high classrooms, exterior welding labs and health-based programs with the lower level to become a hospitality hub for the Sustainable Opportunity Development (SOD) Center based in Salem.
Utica Shale Academy, known for its focus on career-tech education for at-risk students, has been successful in helping students obtain more than 1,100 certifications since 2021. A total of 190 students in grades 9-12 are currently enrolled and it is seeking to expand to include seventh- and eighth-graders.