A five-year grant of just under a half million dollars per year will fulfill the city school district’s ambitions to hire more social workers for each school building, focus on family engagement and work to increase student mental and behavioral support, district leaders said Thursday.
The grant was announced by Senator Charles Schumer as part of $3.6 million of Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) grants distributed by the U.S. Department of Education. Batavia City Schools was the only district in Genesee County to receive this funding.
The grant of $488,761 is for the first year, with an expected total of $2,499,777 during the course of the five-year grant period.
Other areas of the overall student mental and behavioral support goals will be to “increase readiness for school, increase student attendance and achievement and increase student community connectedness,” Community Schools Coordinator Julia Rogers said.
“These goals also include encouragement of family engagement in each student’s education,” she said. “We will be using the funds to hire additional social workers at each of our school buildings. These positions will allow us to expand the reach of our Community Schools program with the goal of breaking down barriers for students and families to help ensure student success.
“We will continue to focus on family engagement activities that are culturally responsive, empowering, and provide support to families,” she said.
Buildings include Robert Morris, Jackson Primary, John Kennedy Intermediate, Batavia Middle and High schools, and district leaders “hope to sustain this plan after the grant period,” Rogers said.
Long-term goals for the grant funding include:
- Increase the educational case management for students who are academically at-risk or chronically absent.
- Increase student access to mental and behavioral health support.
- Increase student readiness for school and student academic achievement.
- Ensure that graduating seniors are college and career ready.
- Work to reduce the academic achievement gap between demographic groups and increase student-family-community connections
Community Partners include:
- GLOW YMCA
- GCASA
- ARC GLOW
- BCSD Foundation
- Genesee Community College
- Genesee County Business Education Alliance
- Genesee County Departments of Health and Mental Health
- Richmond Memorial Library
- United Way
- Partners in Restorative Initiatives
- Children's Institute
- GLOW Workforce Investment Board
- Cornell Cooperative Extension
- Along with our 90+ informal partners
The grants will provide funding for New York’s community schools to hire more social workers, expand mental health services, offer high-quality tutoring for students who need extra support, and foster trust and support within the community through family programming, Schumer said in a press release issued Thursday. New York State was awarded four grants, which will go towards improving the quality of education in Batavia City School District, Belleville Henderson Central School District, Sodus Central School District, and Booker T. Washington Community Center of Auburn.
“I am proud to deliver this funding to New York’s students, families, and communities, and I will always fight hard to ensure that the next generation has the tools they need to build prosperous and fulfilling lives,” Schumer said.
Dr. Molly Corey, executive director of Curriculum and Instruction, believes this grant provides an opportunity “to strengthen the core foundation” of Batavia City Schools.
