ADRIAN — The Lenawee County Office of Emergency Management is the recipient of a $385,000 three-year grant to prevent violence in schools. 

The grant is from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Students, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Program.

This program is designed to recognize changes in student behavior, intervene early and prevent violent acts from happening in schools.

The grant allows each school the opportunity to develop and implement a Behavioral Assessment Team, which is an evidence-based strategy to help identify concerning or threatening behaviors. The funding will provide training for those teams and for school resource officers.

The goal is to identify and stop school violence before it manifests.

Craig Tanis, Lenawee County Emergency Management Coordinator, said that in local schools, “a few cases have occurred where intent to carry out violent actions was identified.” These actions were prevented because of people following the  “see something, say something” principle, he said.

All schools in Lenawee County have agreed to participate, Tanis said.