DOTHAN, Ala. (AP) - A sizable increase in a state education fund is allowing local school systems to pay for school resource officers and maintenance projects and other items.

The money is available after Alabama Governor Kay Ivey this year signed off on the largest education budget to date, topping $7 billion, The Dothan Eagle reported .

The Education Trust Fund Advancement and Technology Fund was given $199 million - far more than last year’s $41 million appropriation, the newspaper reported. Most of that money is designated for school districts around the state.

At a recent school board meeting, Houston County School officials were discussing how to allocate their $1.7 million. Some of the money will be used to fund school resource officers in the county school system, the newspaper reported.

There has also been discussion about possible security enhancements for Houston County schools, such as fixing inconsistent door-locking mechanisms with technology solutions, the newspaper reported.

Dothan City Schools will receive $2.46 million from the fund. That’s five times the $490,396 it got from the fund last year.

“We’re going to spend most of the money on deferred maintenance projects - some roofing,” Chief Financial Officer Mike Manuel told the newspaper.

Much of the money will also be used on some career technology equipment to upgrade and widen the scope of some of the programs at the Dothan Technology Center, Dothan Preparatory Academy and Dothan High School, Manuel said. Some of the money will also go to other schools to help them upgrade their media centers, he said.

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Information from: The Dothan Eagle, http://www.dothaneagle.com

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