In the Baton Rouge region, the grant recipients include Ascension Parish, East Baton Rouge Parish and City of Baker school districts.
While they all plan to start spending the money quickly, there are only a few weeks until schools return from summer break in August. And the awardees still have final paperwork to complete before they can receive the money, including determining if any private or charter schools should receive a share of the money.
They will have time to spend it all down. The deadline for the grant is Sept. 30, 2025, more than two years from now.
Each district is doing something different with their pots of money.
Baker, home to just five schools, is directing the bulk of its $518,355 to convert entryways at two campuses, Park Ridge Elementary and the old Baker Middle campus at 5903 Groom Road, into single, controlled points of access. They would create what are known as “security vestibules,” similar to the way banks sometimes enclose their ATM machines.