Flint schools get $1.4M grant, 82 AmeriCorps members to grow community education | MLive.com
FLINT, MI The Flint School District will see an influx of 82 AmeriCorps volunteers as part of a first-of-its kind program that will see more than $1.4 million invested over the next two years.
Wendy Spencer, CEO for the Corporation for National & Community Service Agency, announced the program during a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, May 6.
The federal agency engages citizens in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, Social Innovation Fund and other programs.
Flint was one of 10 cities awarded similar grants, Spencer said.
“This is really going to be a game changer for Flint,” she said.
AmeriCorps members will help students at three Flint schools get tutoring, health education and conflict resolution. It will also ensure they have safe routes to school and provide career exploration in science, technology, engineering, the arts and math.
Students also will have summer programs facilitated by AmeriCorps members.
“Increased collaboration between the Flint Community Schools and the community we serve significantly impacts our chances to change the game,” said school board President Isaiah Oliver. “It’s going to renew community education and make schools hubs of neighborhoods.”
The school district has yet to announce the three schools at which the new program will be implemented.
Walling said the program should launch by next school year.
In addition to the $1.4 million AmeriCorps grant, another $366,000 in local foundation grants will help support the expansion, Spencer said.
AmeriCorps programs have a proven track record in improving educational outcomes, officials said. For example, Spencer said, an AmeriCorps program in rural Kentucky raised math scores for students by 41 percent in a year.
Flint also has a good track record with AmeriCorps.
The city currently has about 25 volunteers working at City Hall, Habitat for Humanity, the Crim Fitness Foundation, the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Flint, Walling said.
“It was an outstanding application,” Spencer said of Flint’s proposal. We want to be there and make an impact.”
The community education model was originally developed in Flint in 1935 through a partnership between the Flint School District, Charles Stewart Mott and the late Frank Manley to provide community-based schools with after-school and summer programming built upon community collaboration and partnership, use of existing schools, community facilities and coordination of services.
When Flint was overflowing with students and General Motors jobs were plentiful, community education was used as a model in other school districts across the nation.
In the 1986-87 school year, Flint had 32,791 students, according to the oldest available data from the Genesee Intermediate School District.
Eventually, financial struggles led the district to phase out community schools in the 1980s but now, amid a $21.9 million deficit, the Flint School District is expanding the program with the help of groups throughout the community.
The concept took on new life in 2013, when as part of the city’s master planning process residents identified it as their top priority, said C.S. The Mott Foundation is one of the partners in expanding Flint’s community education program.
“We applaud the dedicated service members already engaged in efforts to reimagine community education in Flint, and we welcome the new perspectives, energy and enthusiasm of those who will join them and help to grow the program. We also congratulate our grantees the City of Flint, Crim Fitness Foundation, Flint Community Schools and the United Way of Genesee County that crafted the successful application for the award and will continue to drive progress,” White said in a statement. “Together, we will work to ensure that Flint Community Schools provide the pathway to opportunity that all students in Flint deserve.”
Dominic Adams is a reporter for The Flint Journal.
