October 4, 2022
The Lake County Regional Office of Education (LCOE) has been awarded a $1 million grant that will be used toward training school personnel and educating students on preventing school violence, including strategies to improve the school climate.
The grant funds are intended to be utilized over the next three years by Lake County. This grant will provide students, through technology-enabled means, the ability to ask for and receive mental health, wellness, community and other types of support.
Intensive support will be provided to marginalized youth, who have been referred to online learning or virtual school settings who may be at a higher risk of harm to self or others. It will also be given to students who attend SAFE schools or who have been part of the juvenile justice system.
The County also may use the grant funding to hire school support personnel such as climate specialists, school psychologists, school social workers, school-based violence interrupters, and others to support the prevention of school violence. The staff will provide services to students who are returning from online alternative learning to traditional brick-and-mortar school after exclusionary discipline, school refusal, mental health issues as well as other students who may need a higher level of support.
The grant is made available through the Department of Justice 2022 Bureau of Justice Assistance Preventing School Violence: STOP School Violence Program. This program is designed to improve K-12 school security by providing students and teachers with tools to recognize, respond quickly to and help prevent acts of violence and ensure a positive school climate.
LCOE directly oversees 214 schools and 110,000 students across Illinois while also administering the Illinois Virtual School and Academy. The Academy provides professional development and training to school personnel in addition to online and virtual learning options to students throughout Illinois.
By linking staff, students, and families to school, community, state and national supports, LCOE will increase student and parent engagement with their schools. This will ensure teachers and students are physically, mentally, and physiologically prepared to teach and learn in whichever setting works best for them.
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