SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ)- Shawano County Sheriff Adam Bieber urged all six public school districts in the county to apply for the state’s School Safety Grant, and his plea was heard.
Bowler, Bonduel, Shawano, Gresham, Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Tigerton School Districts all applied for the grant before last week’s deadline.
Bieber says it is important, because the county is not immune to dangerous threats.
“Anywhere USA it can happen” says Bieber.
That point was made this last school year, after the sheriff’s department responded to two school shooting threats in the Shawano School District.
Bieber says while what happened in Shawano was scary and alarming, some good came from it.
“This gave us the opportunity to talk about our security, find out what our weaknesses are and where we can improve, and that is what we should be talking about.”
More importantly, Bieber said it got the discussions going, and in the end, turned into action.
“That is our worse case scenario, so we want to make sure we can prevent that from happening, and this is first step in that process.”
Bieber says the districts all plan to take a similar safety precaution.
“Putting 3M material on the windows, which is a great step to prevent people for easily breaking through windows, and it buys law enforcement time.”
He says he would also like to see all schools have one single secure point of entrance and have all other doors locked and not be opened.
Once the money is granted, the districts will get to decide how to spend it. Bieber says that should open up more discussion.
“Parents should demand it. They should be in contact with their school board. That is what I hope as Sheriff. We can’t stop everything, but at least we should take steps for prevention.”
No matter how the money is spent, Bieber says some action is better than no action.
“There is never going to be one hundred percent guarantee, so that is why you look for a bunch of options, and that is what this money does.”
