$2.5 million heads to school-based mental health care in Delaware: Education roundup

New investments, school board drama, student honors — education news has not slowed down this summer.

Delaware public schools can now expect more funding to support student mental health this year, while select districts and charter schools clinch grants to support students facing homelessness.

Also, one nonprofit hopes to train the public about interacting with and understand the functions of school boards, as a few of these governing bodies in Delaware continue to grab headlines.

In this weekly roundup, we'll catch you up on these and more education updates you may have missed.

[Did we miss another good education story? Tell me about it: kepowers@gannett.com.]

$2.5 million headed to Delaware to expand school-based mental health care

Millions in federal dollars are headed to public schools in the First State.

U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, and Congresswoman Lisa Blunt Rochester together announced Delaware will receive $2.5 million from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to expand health care resources. This money will be used to enhance facilities, recruit health care providers and reinvest in these growing school-based resources, according to an announcement last week.

Schools are uniquely situated to help Medicaid‑eligible students across the state access the physical and behavioral health care they need. This aims to further support that care.

“Delaware has made significant progress when it comes to investing in school-based health services,” said Gov. John Carney. “This federal investment will help us build on that progress. I want to thank the federal delegation for their continued advocacy for our students.”

Each lawmaker praised the investment for better student wellness. But of course, the hope is this will improve their educational journeys, too.

“Medicaid-covered, school-based services are a key aspect in helping children access the physical and mental health services they need and deserve,” said DHSS Cabinet Secretary Josette Manning, in a statement. “These grants will not only advance children’s health, but ultimately can boost educational outcomes by improving student attendance, academic performance and overall wellbeing.”

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Competitive grants awarded to help students experiencing homelessness

Fourteen public school districts and charters in Delaware will land McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act Education for Homeless Children and Youth grants this year.

Those are competitive grants, Delaware's Department of Education explained in a press release, to support "the enrollment, attendance and success in school of children and youth experiencing homelessness." That could be any youngster who lacks a fixed, adequate and regular nighttime residence, according to the law.

"Goals of the grant include ensuring that students experiencing homelessness have equal access to the same free, appropriate, public education, including public preschool education, as provided to other children and youth, assisting with immediate enrollment, transportation and removing educational barriers," the department wrote.

Grant awardees are:

• Academia Antonia Alonso Charter School ($30,000)
• Appoquinimink School District ($30,000)
• Brandywine School District ($30,000)
• Caesar Rodney School District ($30,000)
• Cape Henlopen School District ($20,872)
• Capital School District ($30,000)
• Christina School District ($30,000)
• Indian River School District ($30,000)
• Milford School District ($15,000)
• New Castle County Vocational Technical ($26,000)
• Seaford School District ($30,000)
• Smyrna School District ($30,000)
• Sussex Montessori Charter School ($30,000)
• Woodbridge School District ($30,000)

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Delaware nonprofit hopes to teach you how to better understand school boards

First State Educate, under new head Julia Keleher, has kicked off trainings for school board members across Delaware — and their constituents.

"How do you file a complaint with DMV? People probably know how to do that," Keleher posed. "But how do you get, like, this issue to your local school district's school board to be addressed? It's not a process people are familiar with. So we're doing training on that."

The Delaware nonprofit, now linked with First State Action Fund, has monthly trainings planned for the public. Each virtual event aims to teach participants how to interact with their school boards, better understand how they're supposed to be working and how to hold them accountable. Registration is already open online.

This comes as school boards have been making headlines. Particularly in the Christina School District, wherein the board just voted 4-3 to place the district's superintendent on administrative leave, indefinitely, in a public meeting that stretched past 3 a.m. last Wednesday. That board also was found in violation of public meeting laws in several instances this spring, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

Down in Milford, the board is set to consider a hotly contested policy revision aimed at limiting 'controversial' subjects discussed or shown in schools, despite ACLU of Delaware warnings of possible violations to constitutional rights. That meeting is Monday, July 15.

What's going on in Christina?Catch up as school board pushes out superintendent, faces FOIA probe

For questions or more information on First State Educate's trainings, email: commsmedia@firststateeducate.org.

If you go

• How to prepare a school board agenda, seek public input: 5 p.m., July 25
• Encouraging, welcoming public comment at a board meeting: 5 p.m. Sept. 17
• Understanding student achievement data, accountability: 5 p.m., Aug. 22

Indian River's Community Education Program set for second year

More fall, winter and spring sessions are on the way for adults and children in Indian River School District.

The Community Education Program expects offerings like budget and finance classes, healthcare resource seminars, English as a Second Language courses, fitness and more, in its second year since post-pandemic revival. The program also traditionally offers youth clinics in sports such as flag football, volleyball, field hockey, lacrosse, wrestling and basketball, according to the district, as well as an educational safe babysitting course for youth.

“We are very excited to have the Community Education Program up and running again,” said its coordinator Matthew Schifano, in a press release last week. “We had a successful program last year and are looking forward to offering numerous additional educational and recreational classes for community members in 2024-2025.”

Official courses will be announced next month. The list and electronic registration will be available online.

For more information about the Community Education Program, the district suggests contacting Schifano at (302) 436-1000 or matthew.schifano@irsd.k12.de.us.

From SkillsUSA, to STEM: Delaware students keep bringing home awards

Some 68 Delaware high school students joined more than 16,000 participants in the 2024 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta this summer. That's students participating in events like construction trades, video broadcasting, graphic arts, automotive trades, leadership skills and more — in an event space equivalent to the size of 31 football fields or 41 acres.

Delaware's participation is the highest it's been in over a decade, DOE said in a press release. And this year, the state saw students place in the Top 10, as well as six others who received top honors in skill demonstration events.

Find more information, and a full list of winners, on DOE's website.

Honored skills:

• Clinton Bertollo of New Castle County Vocational Technical School District’s Delcastle Technical High School received a silver medal in sheet metal.
• Noelle Evans also of Delcastle received a bronze medal in screen printing technology.
• The team of Kiara Davis, McKinley Stokley, Ciara Gustin and Piper Drace from Sussex Technical School District’s Sussex Technical High School received a bronze medal for video news production.

Top 10:

• Keller Merida-Vazquez, Delcastle Technical High School, industrial motor control
• Kaiden Brown, Delcastle Technical High School, aviation maintenance technology
• Marissa Prouse, POLYTECH School District’s POLYTECH High School, criminal justice
• Clinton Bertollo, Delcastle Technical High School, sheet metal
• Noelle Evans, Delcastle Technical High School, screen printing technology
• Kiara Davis, Sussex Technical High School, video news production
• McKinley Stokley, Sussex Technical High School, video news production
• Ciara Gustin, Sussex Technical High School, video news production
• Piper Drace, Sussex Technical High School, video news production

Over in a national STEM conference, Delaware Technology Student Association got busy.

Late last month, Delaware students earned seven Top 10 placements in the 2024 National TSA Conference held in Orlando. The conference, themed "Evolution of Excellence," brought together 151 Delawarean students and teachers, according to DOE, alongside some 8,000 students, educators and international industry professionals.

The Technology Student Association — the TSA having nothing to do with the airport — brought students together for competitive STEM-focused events, leadership sessions, networking opportunities and more.

Key achievements:

• 1st place in Tech Bowl: Kedar Lakshmanan, Evan Xie and Christopher Pena-Garcia of H.B. duPont Middle School (Red Clay Consolidated School District)
• 5th place in Mechanical Engineering: Henry Gibson, Latrell McGinnis and Wilson Hartely from Fred Fifer Middle School (Caesar Rodney School District)
• 6th place in Future Technology & Engineering Teacher: Ashly Benavides Lagunas of Indian River High School (Indian River School District)
• 6th place in Video Game Design: Zachary Barnas, Olivia Herling and Nathan Ridgely from Postlethwait Middle School (Caesar Rodney)
• 7th place in Challenging Technology Issues: Anagha Kuricheti and Vidhi Thakkar of Cab Calloway School of the Arts (Red Clay)
• 9th place in CAD Foundations: Vedic Mukherjee from Cab Calloway School of the Arts
• 10th place in Coding: Laksh Patel and Aayush Singh of MOT Charter School

Got a story? Kelly Powers covers race, culture and equity for Delaware Online/The News Journal and USA TODAY Network Northeast, with a focus on education. Contact her at kepowers@gannett.com or (231) 622-2191, and follow her on X @kpowers01.