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austintown schools Grant to revive drug-education program
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
Austintown schools have received a grant to restart a drug-prevention program in the middle and intermediate schools.
Barb Kliner, director of fiscal and grants management for the district, said money from Safe and Drug Free School Zones was cut altogether for the district in the 2009-10 school year. Austintown received $13,968 in that final year of SDFS, state funding for prevention and education programs.
Kliner said the district hadn’t had any programs related to drug prevention and education since national funding was cut, but noted teachers “had been reinforcing the SDFS principles” since then.
Funding became available this school year through competitive state grants, when 22 grants totaling $1.5 million were provided in 19 counties, according to the governor’s office.
Austintown received the third-lowest amount in Ohio, $27,584, and expects to serve 1,600 students. The Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program received the highest amount statewide, $175,210, and is expected to serve 100.
The governor’s office said there were 38 proposals from across the state. To be eligible to apply, the schools had to have at least 40 percent of the student population qualify for a free and reduced lunch program and be able to implement the program by September.
Austintown is partnered with Meridian Community Care and the Mahoning County court system, juvenile justice center and children services board.
Meghan Fortmer, director of youth and young-adult outpatient programming and prevention with Meridian, said the new funds will help enhance the PANDA (Prevent And Neutralize Drug Abuse) program that Austintown has been a part of for several years. “The hope is ... to get some energy around this. Get the parent involved, the community involved and some businesses involved,” Fortmer said. “If we can get more people involved in the prevention effort, we’ll all benefit.”
She also said that though there have been other, smaller grants since SDFS funding was cut, “This amount of money being allocated for prevention — it’s been awhile since we’ve seen that.”
Meridian also partners with Struthers and Girard schools, which also received funding through the new Start Talking grants.
Kliner provided a copy of the grant that she wrote for Austintown. It states: “School staff are reporting issues with students who have parents, siblings and other relatives suffering from substance addiction. ... The opiate epidemic, coupled with the ‘normalization’ of marijuana use, is a constant struggle in this community.” It also cites statewide rankings for opiate-related overdoses last year when Mahoning County ranked 19th-highest and Trumbull County ranked seventh-highest.
Austintown Intermediate and Middle schools will host three events next year as part of their new program. Family nights will be part of a probationary requirement for referrals from the three Mahoning County entities working together. Austintown’s grant application explained the referrals as families with children in the district who need assistance with drug or mental-health education.
An informational booth and activities centered on prevention education will be available at a home football game in the fall, and a four-hour New Year’s Eve event is planned featuring information and activities based on continuing prevention education.