The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Hazelwood School District more than $1.4 million in renewed grant funding for the Safe Schools-Healthy Students Initiative (SS-HS) for 2011-12.

The grant will support the District’s programs and services such as Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS), Response to Intervention (RtI), after-school activities, school-based mentors, non-violent crisis prevention/intervention training, bullying prevention training, alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention activities, guidance programs, mental health services, as well as providing support for early childhood education and Parents as Teachers.

In July 2008, HSD was the only school district in Missouri to receive the $6 million SS-HS federal grant. The four-year grant supports the District’s efforts in creating safe learning environments that promote healthy childhood development and preventing youth violence and drug use. Grant funds are not guaranteed to be renewed; it is contingent upon how programs and budgets are managed. Each year, the District must submit a detailed report on the progress of the grant’s elements, a final budget and an evaluation.

“The annual performance report demonstrates whether substantial progress has been made toward meeting the project objectives and program performance measures. Our overall ratings have been ‘Substantial progress requirements have been met and exceeded,’” said Dr. Maxine Valdez, director, Safe Schools-Healthy Initiative.

Managing the initiative successfully depends on many factors, such as “implementing with fidelity, pre- and post-test data, monitoring and adjusting programs, and feedback from staff and students,” Valdez explained.

“Local evaluators collect the data annually. Each year, the data is compared to the previous year. The data is discussed between the evaluators, the District and our core management team partners. Together, we decide revisions or program changes that need to be made to better fit the needs of our students and staff.”