In coordination with the Ballmer Group, Communities In Schools has announced they will be committing up to $165 million to help the organization scale its integrated student support model to 1,000 new majority low income (i.e., “Title I-eligible”) schools.
CIS has a bold ambition to grow into every Title I-eligible school in America and to build a stronger system that better supports the 12 million students living in poverty across the United States, a news release said. This new initiative will establish a fund designed to accelerate the adoption of its in-school student support services model to under-resourced schools across the county.
Local CIS affiliate Communities In Schools of the Permian Basin applied for funds through the expansion grant and due to committed matching funds from Midland Independent School District and Ector County Independent School District, CISPB was awarded a $2.4 million grant to be used over a three year period. The expansion fund is designed to catalyze local public and private investment in the model through a 1:1 match requirement over the first three years and commitments to fully fund the work long-term, the release said.
With funds from the expansion grant, nine (9) new campus coordinator positions have been created on seven (7) new campuses. CISPB will now be on five (5) new MISD campuses (Abell Junior High; San Jacinto Junior High; Midland Alternative Program (MAP); Scharbauer Elementary; and South Elementary) in addition to the six (6) already served.
Two new campuses (Burleson Elementary and Downing Elementary) in ECISD have been added, as well as two additional high school positions. This is in addition to the 14 current positions serving 13 campuses in ECISD. The addition of these campuses and positions allows CISPB to increase case-management services for an additional 800 students in the Permian Basin. CISPB will be able to case-manage close to 3,000 students in total as well as impacting several thousand more students on campus, families and community members.
Communities In Schools works by bringing community resources directly into schools through embedding a trained local coordinator whose sole focus is helping connect students with additional supports to help them learn, advance in grade level and graduate. As well as the case management model, CISPB created and implemented their own Mental Health Supports component. With their own cadre of licensed mental health professionals, they are able to provide therapy sessions to students directly at school at no additional charge to families.
During the 2021-2022 school year, CISPB campus coordinators case-managed over 2,200 students in Permian Basin schools. CIS campus coordinators strengthen relationships between home and school and increase opportunities for positive life choices and academic achievement through a wide spectrum of services and programs that focus on student retention, college readiness, tutoring, mentoring, grief counseling, mental health and self-esteem building.
