A year ago, teachers at one East Stroudsburg elementary school relied on skeleton keys and had no way to lock rooms from the inside. That’s changed as the school completed a lock upgrade over the summer. It’s one of many security improvements, some that were in the works already, ushered in to make Pocono schools safer since the mass shootings at a Newtown, Conn., school a year ago.

In the aftermath of Sandy Hook, districts in the Poconos answered questions about their own mechanisms to stop a potential threat. While educators said they already had plans in place, the shooting prompted a review of security at many districts.

The state Legislature also passed a quadrupled $8.5 million school safety bill in response to the Newtown shooting. Under the bill, school districts can apply for funding for school resource officers and security equipment upgrades. An announcement on award recipients is slated for this month.

At Delaware Valley School District, Superintendent John Bell said officials launched $500,000 in security improvements in response to Newtown. The district added a police officer to the elementary school, he said. Before, schools believed officers should focus on older children and threats within instead of an outside shooter as in Newtown.

"It totally changed our whole perspective on school security," he said. […]