SALINEVILLE, Ohio – While construction remains underway, the Utica Shale Academy is adding more security to the interior welding lab and heavy equipment area at the school through a $29,490 grant.
Superintendent Bill Watson said the community school received a School Safety and Security Grant from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to add cameras and other gear to the area located at 83 E. Main St. Once completed, the facility will feature 27 welding bays, a classroom and space for heavy equipment. Watson said the total cost for the upgrade was $39,320, and the school contributed $9,830.
“We are acquiring 12 cameras and recording equipment that will be installed both inside and outside,” he said. “It will have the ability to capture both areas.”
School officials applied this fall for the allotment, which defrays costs for the cameras, installation, training and integration, as well as controlled badge access to the building.
“We will know exactly who is on the premises,” Watson said. “We hope to have it installed soon.”
The Utica Shale Academy includes more than 170 students in grades seven through 12, and its campus is composed of the Hutson Building, the Energy Training Center, the Williams Collaboration Center and the exterior and new interior welding sites along East Main Street, as well as the Utica Shale Academy Community Center that is housed on Church Street.
The community school is a dropout recovery and retention facility that focuses on career-tech education for at-risk students and provides certifications to enter the workforce.
Pictured at top: Utica Shale Academy’s facility at 83 E. Main St.