INDIANAPOLIS — We got a first look at the 2025 budget for Perry Township Schools at a school board meeting Monday night.
One focus of the financial plan is safety and security. The proposed budget covers everything from increasing teacher salaries to a bus replacement plan.
Superintendent Patrick Spray said district leaders are utilizing their education and operations funds to improve safety in their schools.
The district has their own police department with a dozen officers. After the meeting, 13News asked Spray about the safety budget. He said they are making sure their tools allow people to report incidents and concerns efficiently.
During the meeting, district leaders did not address any cases specifically, but 13News has previously reported that a student was hospitalized in September after an attack in a Perry Meridian High School hallway. And back in February, police said a substitute teacher at Perry Meridian was attacked by a 16-year-old student.
The superintendent said they are having conversations about how to meet the mental health and behavioral needs of students and are considering bringing their weapons detection systems to the middle schools, tools which are already in use at high schools and sporting events in the school district.
"It's our first priority," Spray said. "It's what we do to make sure that we secure a safe learning environment. Kids cannot learn if they're not feeling safe, and we have a lot of things we need to think about when it comes to safety, that's physical safety people, and training."
13News also asked if there will be any changes to the number of staff present in hallways or bathrooms in the schools. Spray said supervision is always important and they make an effort to make sure staff are always around.
The board will meet again to adopt the budget on Oct. 28.