Grants Awarded To Help Programs For Needy Students

Sat., Jan. 1, 2000

By Wendy Harris wendyh@spokesman.com

Central Valley and East Valley school districts and Spokane’s Educational Service District 101 have received $4 million in federal grants to fund afterschool and summer programs for needy students.

The grants, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education, are among $67 million awarded nationwide as part of the department’s “21st Century Community Learning Centers Program.”

Central Valley and East Valley, which are program partners, will receive $656,000 annually for three years. The districts plan on using the money to expand their existing after-school programs.

The grant, which will target kindergarten through eighth-graders, will fund after-school tutoring, classes and recreational activities at several elementary schools.

The money will allow the districts to serve more low-income and at-risk students, as well as fund new activities, said Jay Walter, Central Valley’s director of middle schools.

“It’s wonderful news,” Walter said. “It’s always nice to receive support money, especially for afterschool and summer programs, which is where we really lack support.”

The grant will target programs at Keystone, Blake and Opportunity elementary schools in Central Valley and at East Farms and Trent elementary schools in East Valley.

The money also will be used to expand the districts’ summer school programs, Walter said.

Spokane’s ESD 101, meanwhile, will receive $670,000 annually for three years. The money, which will benefit five rural communities, will not only expand after-school programs for students, but also serve community members.

“The whole idea is to open up school buildings when they aren’t being used,” said Denise Robertson, director of ESD 101’s Center for Prevention Program. “This will really help us with the next step of having community centers.”

ESD 101, which serves 59 school districts in seven Eastern Washington counties, provides a variety of services on a cooperative basis that many of the districts otherwise could not afford.

The grant will serve Newport, Northport, Nine Mile Falls, Inchelium and Springdale.

In addition to academic programs, the money will fund summer arts programs, cultural events, field trips and career development activities.

A computer will be set up at each community school for people to look for jobs on a state database, Robertson said.

The grant program also will work to connect people with various social service agencies.

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