NWESD 189 Spearheads $7.9 Million Safe Schools Program
Children in Skagit County will benefit from a $7.9 million grant provided by the U.S. Department of Education and administered through NWESD 189 to help seven school districts and several public and nonprofit agencies achieve the goals of a comprehensive health-and-safety program.
The Safe Schools/Healthy Students Grant addresses a wide range of problems that affect students, from bullying and mental-health issues to alcohol, drug and tobacco abuse.
“This is a very highly sought-after grant, and we are thrilled that after three years of hard work and collaboration, we received the award,” states Lori Stolee, Director of NWESD 189’s Prevention Center, which spearheaded the grant application.
“As far as federal grants go, this is one of the biggest I’ve seen from the Department of Education,” says U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), representing Skagit and other counties in the 2nd Congressional District. “It is clear that the federal government recognizes the importance of programs like this that ensure safe schools and healthier students.”
NWESD will receive $2,638,966 each year from DoEd, for a total of $7,916,898, Larsen says.
The school districts and agencies benefiting include: Anacortes, Burlington-Edison, Concrete, Conway, La Conner, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley SDs; Skagit County Youth and Family Services; Skagit County Child and Family Consortium; North Sound Mental Health Administration; and county law enforcement agencies and Health Department.
This is a wonderful opportunity for Skagit County youth to receive a multitude of services, and NWESD 189 is proud to be the lead agency.
The grant is expected to provide for:
• Prevention and intervention specialists in 10 of the county’s middle and high schools
• Addition of nine intervention specialists to mental-health services in schools
• Three early-learning specialists
• An additional Welcome Baby! coordinator
• A specialist assigned to a predominately minority/immigrant neighborhood in Mount Vernon
• Another to help students coming out of the juvenile justice system
The plan also provides instruction on Best Practices Prevention Curriculum and Programs; enlists parents and guardians in drug, alcohol and violence prevention; and offers community-based mental-health prevention, screening, assessment, early intervention and follow-up services to children and families from early childhood through grade 12.
The grant goals involve providing safe and drug-free school environments; appropriate mental-health treatment, case-management and support services to school-age children; and early-childhood staff training and parent education, as well as family-support services to high-risk new mothers. They also hope to maintain safe and healthful schools and increase community-based organizational and individual participation in all prevention activities.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for Skagit County youth to receive a multitude of services, and NWESD 189 is proud to be the lead agency,” concludes Superintendent Jerry Jenkins.
For more information, please contact Lori Stolee at (360) 299-4010 or lstolee@esd189.org.