The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Tooele County School District a $2.4 million grant to improve the learning environment in schools and promote school safety.
The grant is one of 130 competitive grants awarded by the department of education to school districts and states, according to a statement released Sept. 23 by the education department.
“We are extremely pleased with this additional funding and excited to continue the work of improving school climate and safety in our district,” said Scott Rogers, Tooele County School District superintendent.
The district will receive $2,392,665 over a five-year period, or an average of $475,000 per year, according to Rogers.
The funds will be used for professional development, curriculum, bully prevention, data systems, school-wide positive behavioral intervention and support, travel to attend national and state conferences, and individual student counseling,
The grant will allow the district to extend the Second Step program to all elementary and junior high schools, according to Marianne Oborn, the school district’s career and technology education director who helped prepare the grant application.
Second Step is an anti-bullying curriculum that teaches social and emotional skills. The district received a grant in August 2013 that had sufficient funds to implement the program in seven elementary schools.
“It’s a great program and it has worked well in the schools where it has been implemented,” she said.
The district will also use the grant money to purchase software that will help analyze behavioral data for trends and problem areas.
“The software will take data that we already record and allow us to look it and see patterns and uncover problem areas,” Oborn said.
The district will strengthen its relationship with Valley Behavioral Health and use the grant to pay for counseling for students that need professional counseling but can’t afford it, according to Oborn.
The grant will also pay for district and building level training for teachers and staff on prevention of bullying and improving school climate, she said.
Tooele County School District was one of two districts in Utah to receive a U.S. Department of Education School Climate grant. The other district was the Granite School District in Salt Lake County.
“The grant will allow us to improve the climate at schools and make them a safer place for students throughout the entire district,” Oborn said.