Norris Inc. is helping schools throughout New England access the $50 million in federal grant money set aside for the school violence prevention program. Public and private schools are currently eligible for security upgrades. The grant funding is through the federal COPS School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP).

Norris Inc. is Northern New England’s premier commercial life-safety and security integrator. Norris specializes in the following:

  • Access Control Systems
  • Video Surveillance Systems
  • Fire Alarm Installations
  • Life Safety
  • Communications
  • Emergency Notification

The SVPP program requires that grant winners contribute something out of pocket toward the total cost of upgrades. The grant program will pay up to 75% of the price, and winners of the grant must pay 25%. Eligible upgrades include the following:

  • Coordination with law enforcement
  • Training for local law enforcement officers to prevent student violence against others and self
  • Metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures
  • Technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency
  • Any other system that the COPS Office determines may provide a significant improvement in security

Vigilance Software and their Emergency Notification System falls directly in this list, as an emergency notification solution.

There is up to $50 million in federal money available. The deadline for applying is April 29th. 

In order to qualify, you must be a government agency or unit of government, according to the COPS SVPP government site. Schools and municipalities qualify under the definition. Below is a quote from the COPS SVPP site.

“Applications for SVPP must be submitted by a state, unit of local government (city, county, township, etc.), or its public agencies (state agencies and units of local government agencies such as county or city public school systems, public boards of education, independent school districts, police departments, sheriff’s departments), or Indian tribes,” the site reads. “Recipients of SVPP funding must use the funding for the benefit of K-12, primary and secondary schools, and students.”

 Norris, Inc. can work with your school or school district. We are skilled and experienced to help with all your life-safety and security installation needs. 

For the grant program, you may want to consider an emergency notification system or an E-series network-based paging, intercom, and emergency signage system from Telecor. 

A standard stand-alone VOIP phone system is used for paging & intercom, but it is not supervised. Unfortunately, they do not meet national school safety standard NEMA/ANSI SB-40. A properly configured Telecor solution DOES meet the National School Safety standard.

Please email or contact Norris, Inc. if you have any questions on technical products or systems for the grant application. We can also help with information for budget pricing. We can also get you information on all our offerings, including vape/bullying detection, wireless clocks, and more. 

Let Norris help keep your students, faculty, and staff safe!

What is Norris all about?

Norris, Inc.—a Saco, Maine-based life-safety and security systems integrator with satellite offices in Bangor, Maine; Lee, New Hampshire; and Burlington, Vermont—was founded nearly 40 years ago by two brothers, Brad and Harty Norris.

On February 28, 2020 Norris Inc was acquired by Minuteman Security Technologies Inc.  Minuteman Security Technologies Inc. (Minuteman), headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts and founded in 1998, is a leading provider of enterprise security technology solutions. Minuteman security systems are used by a wide range of organizations throughout the United States. Customers include law enforcement, energy companies, mass transit, large retail chains, academic institutions, public safety agencies, and community hospitals with regional offices from Maine to Illinois.