In the southwestern corner of Ohio, the village of Blanchester is not so much prospering, as surviving. Median household income here is nearly half as much than the rest of the state, at a little more than $37,000.So when the local school district asked voters in November for more money to bolster safety and security, it lost by nearly two-to-one.And it wasn't the first time.Superintendent Randy Dunlap, a 35-year veteran educator, says his district also lost a similar referendum in May 2022 and will try yet again, for a third time, this spring. He's not optimistic about victory."Unless the economy changes, I don't see it. I just don't see it," Dunlap said in an interview in a middle school cafeteria. But he says he and his district will keep trying to raise money for security cameras and surveillance systems, intercom and communication equipment, and a school resource officer. "We have to – for our kids."Some districts 'begging' for security moneyAnd that's the dilemma facing districts nationwide as threats grow: how to keep schools safe – if they can't afford it. The Hearst Television National Investigative Unit sought to determine how many public school districts tried and failed in 2022 to raise money to secure their schools. But no current nationwide database of district referendum results from 2022 could be found.So a team of Hearst journalists spent more than two months creating a database, researching school referendums in every state, reviewing the text of hundreds of ballot proposals, and calling numerous districts to verify the outcome. Out of 408 districts confirmed to have asked voters for security money last year, nearly 73 percent won, the research found, but 27 percent – more than one out of every four – failed, including in Blanchester, a district with three schools and 1,150 students, which fell short at the polls and with the politicians. The district also lost out on an initial disbursement from a school safety grant program created by Ohio governor Mike DeWine.WATCH AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH OHIO GOV. MIKE DEWINE ABOUT FUNDING FOR SCHOOL SECURITY:At times, Superintendent Dunlap acknowledged, he felt as if he were "begging the state, begging the voters, begging our community donors, begging anybody who might have money that can help us out."WATCH AN EXTENDED INTERVIEW WITH BLANCHESTER, OHIO, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT RANDY DUNLAP ABOUT ‘BEGGING’ FOR MORE SECURITY FUNDING: When asked what he would tell the state’s governor, Dunlap said: “I'd just like to know if there's a plan. What's the plan? How are we going to improve safety?”New school security grant fundsIn an interview, Gov. DeWine responded directly to the question Dunlap had posted, announcing for the first time publicly that Blanchester would get security money after all, part of an additional $112 million round of grant funding that, he said, will go to every district in the state that did not win funding in the initial disbursement."Look, we're here to try to help," DeWine said. Blanchester’s "application for a grant has now been granted."After that interview, in late February, Dunlap learned the amount to his district would be $183,000 for safety improvements. In an email, Dunlap said his plan is to apply a "significant portion" of the funds for video surveillance enhancements.DeWine also vowed to dramatically increase staffing at the Ohio School Safety Center he created in 2019, which serves as a clearinghouse of threats to the state's 3,000 schools, as well as operates a tip line for districts and parents. The center received nearly 460 tips in 2022, executive director Emily Torok said. The facility, housed a few miles from the state capitol in Columbus, also monitors social media for threats. The governor’s office invited Hearst Television to observe the center’s operations in January. "We will double again the number of people who are working there," by the end of this year, DeWine said, which would bring the number of staffers to more than 50. "Prevention is an essential part of this comprehensive plan that every school has to have," the governor said. Questionnaire reveals funding frustrationBut help is not on the way elsewhere.In an exclusive questionnaire in fall 2022, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit asked every public district in all 50 states what they're doing to improve security. Many said they feel hung out to dry."NO budget monies from either the State (or) the Federal Government!" Graham County, N.C., schools responded.Kingsville, Texas, schools wrote back: "Since Uvalde shooting, we have spent approximately $700,000 on safety upgrades/initiatives. However, we have received $0 from the state/federal government." The questionnaire results, submitted by more than 1,200 districts over a four-week period, show a troubling snapshot of the evolving way schools are struggling to address safety, revealing frustrations about a lack of funding – especially by those districts that acknowledge they are falling short of securing their schools.In Gresham, Wisconsin, a 50% poverty school district, leaders responded, "We can't afford metal detectors or other things. We have trouble buying needed equipment to help with an active shooter situation... It is an incredibly mixed up funding system in Wisconsin."The district in East Greenwich, R.I., answered, "The biggest obstacle we face to continuously improving school safety/security is funding." One out of every three public school districts that responded to the National Investigative Unit questionnaire said they did not have any professional security on site, including from a district police department or sworn law enforcement agency or a school resource officer, as first reported in November.READ THE FULL RESULTS FROM THE EXCLUSIVE QUESTIONNAIRE SENT TO SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN ALL 50 STATES Some districts secure funding – but not enoughRon Saari, the superintendent of Waupaca Schools in Wisconsin, which has 2,100 students across four campuses two hours north of Milwaukee, is one of the district leaders who responded to the questionnaire. His district, along with seven other districts in the state that asked voters for more security money in November, won its funding referendum. Saari says the money will be used to add bulletproof windows, seal off its main high school vestibule to become more secure, and add new security cameras, along with other improvements for the schools his own three sons attend."I don't think we're ever going to be done," Saari said. "Whether it's my biological son or it is a neighbor's daughter or child, we want to protect them. We want to keep them safe."Mark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. Tamika Cody, Greg Compton, MyAhna Alston, Ron Schmidt, Jason Sperry, and Brandon Oubre contributed to this report. If you know of school security concerns you want us to investigate or unique district safety initiatives you’d like to share for our ongoing ‘Securing Our Schools’ investigation, please send confidential information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.WATCH THE HEARST TELEVISION NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE UNIT’S ONGOING SECURING OUR SCHOOLS SERIES: Part 1: Falling Short – November 2022 Part 2: Cost of Safety – March 2023 Part 3: Training for Trauma (May 2023)