Federal Way schools and the Federal Way Police Department are working together to bring in new technology that makes schools safer.

The hope is to use a grant to help buy new, higher frequency radios that would allow police officers stationed at schools (school resource officers), along with school administrators, to make contact outside of the school grounds.

Currently the school district owns UHF radios, a low frequency radio that only works for radios within a block of the school grounds. In order to communicate with fellow school resource officers or with administrators at another school, a telephone is required. However, phones can often be rendered useless in a disaster or emergency.

“It’s really an issue of being proactive,” district spokeswoman Diane Turner said. “This will allow us to expand our capabilities. This enhanced frequency will allow each school to interact anywhere in the city.”

In case of an emergency where the phones are not working, or in case of a lockdown where phones may not be accessible, those with the radios could make outside contact and communicate their need for help.

In June, a grant opened up from the Community Oriented Policing Services. The city seeks a Secure Our Schools grant, which is specifically for law enforcement agencies who partner with school districts, and would use the funds for a school safety project.

“We saw it as an opportunity,” Commander Chris Norman said. “It seemed to fit and address some of the issues we are having.”

The grant does require matching funds from the applicant agency. The total cost of the upgrade to an enhanced version is $56,200. That would leave $28,100 to be paid for by the applicants.

One option being looked into is getting some funding from the Greater Federal Way Emergency Operations Oversight Committee, with the thought that the new system could be used by the committee in a catastrophic event.

“If all the cell phone technology goes down,” Norman said, “this is a stable system, very useful in case of a major disaster.”

If the plan were to work out, the police department, school district and committee would each contribute $9,366.

“It’s a matter of being safer and able to respond more quickly and directly,” Turner said.

The grant application was submitted on July 1. The process is still just in the beginning stages and will be under discussion for the next several months. If the grant is approved, it will still go before the city council for approval.