Megan Shaff
Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. is one of only five Indiana school districts chosen to receive about $500,000 in a family engagement grant.
A memorandum of agreement has been approved by the BCSC school board to receive $100,000 annually over the next five years for two purposes. One is to engage more with the families of school children, while the other is to boost student outcomes, BCSC Director of Title Services Megan Shaff said.
The money from the U.S. Department of Education was initially provided to IN*SOURCE, a social services agency headquartered in South Bend. It was the agency that issued the five Indiana grants for the new initiative.
The first step for the Columbus-area schools will be a self-evaluation that examines how the school district engages families, as well as what opportunities are provided to gather input, Shaff said.
The next step would be to “get our boots on the ground right away to get some new programming in place, in order to engage those families we are currently not serving in the best way we could,” she said.
Administrators are considering the creation of a new position with the title of Family Engagement Coordinator, BCSC superintendent Jim Roberts said. A small amount of grant money could create opportunities to provide incentives for family participation, he added.
The selection of BCSC was made by raters throughout the state who scored on the strength of strategic leadership and opportunities for growth, according to the IN*SOURCE website.
The criteria included diversity, absenteeism, student performance, potential impact, regional challenges, opportunities, existing programs, vision of leadership, belief systems, and the overall impression of the grant application, the website stated.
The four other school corporations chosen to receive identical grants are the Gary Community School Corp., the Goshen Community Schools, the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township in Indianapolis, and Perry Meridian Community Schools.
While it will take time to develop the program, Shaff said she’s hopeful BCSC will eventually become a model for family engagement throughout the state in terms of how schools can creatively and effectively meet the needs of families and improve student outcomes.
