Warwick School District

LITITZ, PA — Warwick received the official verification to move forward with plans for new safety and security job positions funded by a grant in the amount of $489,539 from the PA Commission for Crime and Delinquency. This grant funding was requested earlier this school year as part of the district's continued plans for both physical and social and emotional safety for students.  

“Warwick is fortunate to move forward with these grant-funded positions and equipment provided by PCCD,” stated Dr. Ryan Axe, Director of Secondary Education for Warwick. “Receiving the official go-ahead allows us to move forward with hiring for these positions and purchasing equipment to keep our students safe and mentally healthy. Our goal and intent are to have these positions filled and ready to go with our new equipment in place for the 2020-2021 school year.” 

The grant from PCCD will provide funding for the following: 

• Full-time behavioral specialist
• Second full-time school police officer (hired under the Warwick police department) 
• Part-time security officer (hired under the Warwick police department) 
• School police vehicle
• Part-time social worker
• Additional cameras, hardware, and software for safety
• Funding for the youth court initiative at the secondary level

The funding from the grant and positions added will help Warwick increase the support of students as they learn how to appropriately engage with peers, express emotions and feelings, self-advocate, interact with staff and navigate their behaviors and choices. The funding will also give the district the ability to add even more layers of safety and security across our campuses. 

“As a school district, our top priority is for the safety of our students, both physically as they are on our campuses, and socially and emotionally as they navigate our complicated world. The generous funding from this PCCD grant will allow our dreams for additional staffing that will directly serve our students to come true. Additionally, these funds will provide needed safety and security enhancements and programming. We are grateful to be recipients of this award.” - Dr. April Hershey, Superintendent

Warwick School District is appreciative of the funding provided by this grant.  

For more information about the Committee and the School Safety and Security Grant Program, please see PCCD's School Safety and Security webpage at https://www.pccd.pa.gov/schoolsafety/Pages/default.aspx.