County schools receive grant for alternative education
Several local school districts were among the recipients of a combined $26 million in alternative-education grants announced Wednesday by Gov. Mark Schweiker. “Soon, parents across Pennsylvania will start getting their children ready to head back to school,” Schweiker said. “We expect our kids to learn in school – and we expect them to be safe.”
These grants can help schools get disruptive students out of regular classrooms and into settings where they can get counseling and extra help. And that means the rest of the children can focus on learning.”
In Fayette County, the largest of the Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth Program grants went to the Intermediate Unit 1 on behalf of the Fayette Consortium, which is composed of the county’s six school districts.
The $249,750 grant will help continue the operation of the IU 1 alternative school located along Route 40 in the former Colonial Elementary School.
Mike Caruso, director of operational services at IU 1, explained the alternative school has been in operation 31/2 years and is set to open for its fourth year at the new location.
“We provide alternative education for students in seventh through 12th grades in the Fayette County Consortium of all six school districts, plus provide a wing of therapeutic support for students as well that is open to all districts on a first-come, first-served basis,” Caruso said.
The school has a variety of support services that include six full-time social workers, six content area teachers and four special education teachers, as well as a full-time juvenile probation officer provided through the county. Caruso said the new location allows for a physical education teacher, library and computer room.
Also as part of the grant allocation, Albert Gallatin Area School District received $66,600 on behalf of the Communities in Schools of Southwest Pennsylvania (CIS) Success Academy, located in the Uniontown Mall.
Brownsville Area School District received $34,965 for alternative education.
Frazier School District received two grants of $8,325 each for the New Directions program and the Success Academy.
Laurel Highlands and Uniontown Area school districts each received $58,275 for alternative education programs.
CIS executive director Linda Smith said she was grateful for the state funding the Success Academy has received since the grant program was initiated in 1995.
She explained the Success Academy has a traditional, daytime session composed of slots for seventh- through 12th-grade students from the school districts.
The academy also has an afternoon session for expelled students or those who have dropped out of school and an evening session, referred to as the drop-out recovery session, for students who have dropped out of school but want to return for a high school diploma.
Success Academy director Dorine King said the school is a success.
“We get the opportunity to see a student grow, mature and blossom into a responsible community member, and that’s exciting,” she said.
King said the school has a proactive style of behavior modification and has a full-time behavioral specialist for the students.
She said the dedicated staff is also crucial to the program, and the small class sizes allow individualized attention.
“Our job is to help them with their issues, come up with the solutions and transition them back into the main school setting,” King said.
In Greene County, Central Greene School District received $8,325 for the Greene County Prison.
Also locally, the Washington County Alternative School received $99,900, Belle Vernon Area School District received $33,300 for its alternative after-school program and Southmoreland School District received $36,630 for its alternative education program.
The alternative education grants are earmarked for removing chronically disruptive students from regular school programs and placing them in alternative-education programs that can offer specialized instruction and counseling.
All school districts, career and technical schools, charter schools and intermediate units are eligible to apply for the grants, which are awarded on a proportional basis.