The school year is winding down, but school leaders are already preparing for next year.

Three local schools received major funding for mental health, behavioral health, and safety resources.


The Millcreek School District, the Fairview School District, and Cathedral Prep all received the grants.


 Donald Stark, the Superintendent for the Fairview School District said, "We can't educate students and we can't ask teachers to do their jobs if they aren't doing well."


The Millcreek School District will be using their funds for security assessments, camera upgrades, and mental health resources. "The largest portion of that money will be used to fund seats in the therapeutic, social and emotional classroom at one of our community partners, Sarah Reed, and these seats are for our students with the highest behavioral health needs and the resources there are designed to help them regulate their behaviors. It helps them function in social settings, so they can return to a traditional school environment with a variety of tools to maintain success", said Trevor Murdock, the Assistant Superintendent for the Millcreek School District.


The Fairview School District will be adding a chill room for students in their elementary school. "It's worked in the middle school and high school, so let's bring it to our younger students and maybe we can support more students moving forward because we won't have as much of a need of it hopefully as they grow", said Donald Stark, the Superintendent for the Fairview School District.

 
These spaces provide mental health support through the day. They also will be using the money for help fund their security resource officers too.

But it wasn't just mental health resources that this money could be used for, it was also designated for safety upgrades. For example, Cathedral Prep will be using their allotted money for doors and security upgrades. As Will Pituch, the Vice President of Academics and Student Affairs for Cathedral Prep explained, "It's a great opportunity for us to stay in front of this and it's not something we have to get done right away, right now, but something we identified as a need down the line, so having that money dedicated to us is very helpful as a school."

All school leaders said that the changes and upgrades will be ready by the new school year.