The designations were based on multiple criteria, including absenteeism, suspensions, students with disabilities, percentage of students who are English Language Learners, and key partners who provide the schools with services. The Community Schools concept will gauge how violence, poverty and health conditions in the community where the school is located might affect students and their families.
The district’s five-year Strategic Plan, which was unveiled a few weeks ago, calls for all schools to eventually become Community Schools, providing not only education, but a range of social and health services—including mental health services—to students and their families.
The Homewood Children’s Village and Communities in Schools have already been selected to provide some of the wraparound services. Others, Cherna said, would be selected according to need, location, etc.
Cherna said his department’s involvement with the initiative does not mean PPS would be siphoning services that would have gone elsewhere. It’s simply a different delivery model. He said he hasn’t been asked for anything specific yet, but his department serves on the advisory committee.
“Unfortunately, we already do a lot of business in the community. We do truancy prevention—a lot of the kids are in our system, via homeless services, housing. And we do a ton of afterschool,” he said.
“The point is, if you can invest in services there, that will prevent paying for higher-end services down the road. A lot of places around the country have health clinics right in the schools. It’s a preventative model to get people what they need before they penetrate the system in a bigger way down the road.”
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