DOJ Unveiling 2nd Round of Safety Grants
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 24, 2018
From WisPolitics.com …
The state Department of Justice is unveiling the second round of the school safety grant program today aimed at bolstering mental health initiatives in schools, among other things.
The announcement comes as the agency has weighed options for spending the remaining $43.4 million of state funding under the newly created $100 million school safety grant program. During the first round of applications, which closed in June, 735 schools and districts requested $56.6 million in total funding for building improvements and other safety initiatives.
While the second round of funding will continue to focus on additional physical security upgrades, it’ll also prioritize “advanced initiatives to bolster student mental health” and creating School Safety Intervention teams, according to the DOJ.
The grants will be awarded starting in October.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel coverage here.
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Evers: DOJ Should Use Remaining Safety Money for School Mental Health
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 24, 2018
From WisPolitics.com …
State schools Superintendent Tony Evers says the state Department of Justice should use the remaining $40 million-plus in school safety grant funding to prioritize mental health.
Evers’ comments came at a news conference yesterday at Schenk Elementary School in Madison, where he also unveiled the Department of Public Instruction’s 2019-21 budget request surrounding mental health initiatives.
Under the newly created $100 million school safety grant program, 735 schools and districts requested $56.6 million in total funding. Assuming all the money is allocated as requested, there’ll be some $43.4 million of state funding leftover. DOJ officials have previously said the agency would make a determination about how to use that funding after consulting with School Safety Director Kristen Devitt.
But Evers, who’s also running for guv, stressed the need to use the leftover funding to ensure students can be in “a place mentally and physically where they can learn.”
That means using the funding to implement more statewide training and support for young people, as well as other priorities he highlighted as part of his budget request today.
The budget request includes $5 million in specialized support for school mental health training; an additional $44 million in mental health categorical aid to match district funding when hiring for pupil services staff; and $14 million for expanding collaborative grants with community mental health providers to give students access to mental health services.
In all, Evers’ budget proposal will include more than $60 million over the next biennium for mental health services.
“This is a critical issue,” Evers said of using safety grant funding for mental health initiatives. “The fact that some of it was left behind I think was reflective of the kind of narrowness of the scope (of the grants).”
A state DOJ spokeswoman said that mental health training has been a “cornerstone of DOJ’s grant program from Day 1,” noting that to qualify for the money, school staff will have to have training in trauma-informed care before the end of the 2018-19 school year or show staff have already received such training.
Evers also said the mental health aspect of DPI’s budget request is the first of a handful of recommendations the agency is releasing over the coming weeks. He said he’s planning to submit DPI’s full budget request in September or October.
See Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Coverage here.
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DPI Announces Mental Health Grants
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 24, 2018
Sixty-four school districts and consortiums are sharing $3.25 million in state grant funding to provide school-based mental health services.
Additional information is available in the Department of Public Instruction news release here.
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WPEN Summer Summit
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 23, 2018
The Wisconsin Public Education Network (WPEN), a project of the Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES), is a nonpartisan coalition of parents, students, educators, school board members, administrators, community leaders and education policy experts united behind one objective — advocating for Wisconsin public schools.
WPEN is now taking registrations for its Fourth Annual Summer Summit, August 1st in Appleton, hosted by Appleton Area School District and Fox Cities Advocates for Public Education. Please forward this information to those board members, staff or parents in your district with an interest in advocating effectively on behalf of public school children and learning more about the challenges facing our public schools.
The agenda includes a full day of informational breakouts and strategy sessions led by education experts and advocacy team leaders, and plenary presentations from speakers who will inspire action and deeper conversations about the value of public education to our democracy and our communities. The Summit is an annual opportunity to connect with and learn from others from around the state who care deeply about our public schools, and to strategize on ways to take local action to ensure every child in every school has equal opportunity to succeed.
The theme of this year’s Summit is Vote Public, an invitation to make public education a focus of local elections, and to hold elected officials accountable for votes that support the best interests of our students and public schools. An afternoon workshop provides opportunities for people from various constituencies and various parts of the state to come together to find common ground nonpartisan advocacy and collaboration in our home communities. Our emphasis throughout the day will be on how we can work together to create local-level actions with state-level impact.
The agenda features over 30 breakouts on a wide range of topics impacting school funding, school climate, and student success. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Evers, will join us to kick off the event, and our plenary sessions include a conversation with Blue Ribbon Commission on School funding members co-chair Rep. Joel Kitchens and Dr. Julie Underwood, and a keynote presentation by Jitu Brown of Chicago’s Journey for Justice Alliance.
The Summit will take place at Appleton North High School from 8:00 am to 5:00pm, and will be followed by a dinner event at the Stone Arch at Riverview Gardens with special guest, Matt Rothschild of Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Registration for the Summit is $30 (includes lunch), and the dinner is an additional $30. Registration fee waivers are available for those for whom the cost is otherwise prohibitive, and those who wish to donate to this scholarship fund may do so at check-out. Those who wish to join the Network as Blue Ribbon Partners receive free admission to both the Summit and the dinner, as well as a free t-shirt at the event.
See the registration form for details and email hdb@WisconsinNetwork.org with any questions.
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Employee Personnel Files and Public Records Requests
By Wisconsin School Administrators Alliance staff | July 18, 2018
From the Legal Side . . .
In its most recent Legal Update, the Strang Patteson Law Firm reviews a recent Wisconsin Court of Appeals decision highlighting the application of Wisconsin’s Public Records Law to requests for employee personnel records, specifically records involving the investigation of a complaint against a public employee.
The SAA regularly receives these legal updates and we believe this is valuable information for SAA members. We are distributing this update to SAA members with the permission of Strang Patteson.
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