(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Six school districts will share more than $600,000 in grant funds to help reduce the number of student suspensions and expulsions, the Kentucky Department of Education and the Kentucky Center for School Safety announced today.
The six are:
- Bowling Green Independent -- $89,155
- Fayette County -- $195,219
- Harlan Independent -- $68,476
- Henderson County -- $119,709
- Middlesboro Independent -- $100,232
- Owsley County -- $33,305
Grant funds were made available through the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools program. Beginning with the 2003-04 school year, the six grantees will use the funds to promote community service work programs for students who have committed offenses that would result in out-of-school suspension or expulsions. Community service work is a supervised, structured work experience for youth that meets the needs of the community and fosters responsibility for personal actions. The districts' projects will be evaluated to determine the effectiveness of the interventions and their possible applications for other school districts.
In the 2001-02 school year, 74,054 out-of-school suspensions were recorded in Kentucky schools, an increase of eight percent over the previous year.
Jon Akers, executive director of the Kentucky Center for School Safety, said that, while students need to be held accountable for their actions, suspensions can place the community at risk, as students are often unsupervised while out of school.
"Principals are always looking for alternatives to out of school suspensions," said Akers. "Students must be held accountable both academically and behaviorally. Projects like the Community Service Work Project can assist school administrators in maintaining these standards and expectations."
Students who would have been suspended or expelled for violating a school's disciplinary code or committing law violations may be eligible for participation in the program. Each school district will screen students prior to placement in the program. Students will be required to work at a community site under close supervision, continue their academic work and receive counseling to address their behavioral problems. Examples of work sites may include animal shelters, beautification projects at local schools and parks and recreational facilities.
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