Burke schools win $5.8 million grant

By Steve Welker
Published: June 27, 2009

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Morganton --

Burke County Public Schools has won a federal grant that will bring the district $5.8 million over the coming four years.
Superintendent David Burleson said the "Safe Schools/Healthy Students" grant — a longtime goal of his — "will have some impact on all 14,000 children in the school system."
Competition for the grant is very high, he noted. The U.S. government awarded about 60 "Safe Schools/Healthy Students" grants nationwide in 2008. About 60 percent were for less than the $1.452 million Burke County schools will receive annually through the 2012-13 school year. Only three N.C. school districts were invited to join the Safe Schools/Healthy Students initiative in 2008.
Burleson said, "A vision I've had for a long time is a collaborative effort to help children who have drug problems, attendance problems, family problems, violence programs. It's for more of a wrap-around program where we're dealing with issues in the family as much as issues with the child."
"This grant is kind of a dream come true," he continued.
From 1,200 to 1,400 Burke County children will receive "maximum services," Burleson said, but all students will feel some positive impact. "One of the tenets of the grant is to provide more training for our teachers to keep our schools safe and violence-free," Burleson said. And every child in the system will benefit, he added, "because there's a real push for alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention."
At least three local agencies also will feel a positive impact from the grant, because it will involve the Burke County Sheriff's Office, Burke County Juvenile Justice and ACCESS Care in delivering services and support.
Their collaborative effort with Burke County Public Schools will provide 14,000 students in 30 schools and throughout the county's communities with "the benefit of enhanced comprehensive educational mental health, social services, law enforcement and, as appropriate, juvenile-justice system services that can promote healthy children development and prevent violence and alcohol and other drug abuse," according to the U.S. Department of Education.
Since 1999, the federal departments of education, health and human services and justice have together funded and supported the Safe Schools/Healthy Students Initiative.
Their grant implements a coordinated, comprehensive plan of activities, curricula, programs and services that focus on creating safe school environments; promoting healthy childhood development; and preventing youth violence and alcohol, tobacco and other drug use.
Burke County Public Schools won its grant by working with local mental-health, law-enforcement and juvenile-justice agencies to develop and submit a community-specific comprehensive plan that addresses the following five elements:
n Safe school environments and violence-prevention activities.
n Alcohol, tobacco and other drug-prevention activities.
n Student behavioral, social and emotional supports.
n Mental-health services.
n Early childhood social and emotional learning programs.
The Burke County partners based their plan on community-specific data that identifies local needs and gaps in services.
"Thus, no two Safe Schools/Healthy Students projects are the same," pointed out a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education.
Burleson is designated as the department's contact person for administering the program.