The Virginia Department of Education announced that 583 schools in 93 school divisions, including Gloucester and Mathews public schools, will receive a total of $12 million in state School Security Equipment Grants to protect students, faculty and visitors.

Gloucester County Public Schools will receive $223,855 and Mathews will be given $8,466.

The grants will pay for video monitoring systems, voice and video internal communications systems, school bus interior cameras, mass notification systems, visitor-identification systems, access control systems, two-way radios, security vestibules and other security upgrades.

“The health and safety of students and school staff is paramount,” said state Superintendent of Public Instruction James Lane. “These grants are an important part of equipping schools with the systems necessary to mitigate security risks, detect threats and connect school with first responders. The commonwealth continues to lead the nation in proactively addressing...