Lake County News - Lake County Office of Education receives $372,000 federal grant

U.S. Reps. Mike Thompson (CA-5) and John Garamendi (CA-3) on Friday announced a $372,923 School Climate Transformation Grant from the Department of Education for the Lake County Office of Education.

The School Climate Transformation Grant is a federal program designed to help make schools safer and improve mental health services for students and young adults.

"A safe, high-quality learning environment goes hand-in-hand with a high-quality learning experience," said Thompson. "The classroom should always be a place where students come to learn, grow and prepare for their future. And the programs these grants support will help make sure our students are in the best possible environment for educational success."

"This grant will help improve the learning environment for Lake County students. Every child deserves a secure and productive learning environment, and it's important for us to directly address behavioral and mental health issues before they get out of hand," Garamendi said. "Students in school should be focused on graduation and preparing for their futures, not on distractions in the classroom that can be avoided. I look forward to seeing the results of this important program."

Rob Young, author of the School Climate Grant and director of the new program, said, "We are incredibly excited about this opportunity to develop proven and powerful programs that can mean better futures for Lake County students. This comprehensive program gives us the resources we need for systems changes that help us achieve our number one priority: successful students who are coming to school ready to learn and graduating ready to succeed."

The School Climate Transformation Grant provides funds to school districts that will be used to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for implementing evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral frameworks for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for students.

The goals of the program are to connect children, youths, and families to appropriate services and supports; improve conditions for learning and behavioral outcomes for school-aged youths; and increase awareness of and the ability to respond to mental-health issues among school-aged youths.