Grants to fund officer, cameras, mental health support, training

Wilson County Schools has received$174,066 in Safe Schools grants in from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. Superintendent Lane Mills detailed the funding during Monday s Wilson County Board of Education meeting. The district will use $33,333 for an additional school resource officer to work part time between Barnes, Hearne and Vick elementary schools. Mills said the new officer will create a consistent and mostable environment for our students. A new camera system will be purchased with $60,000 in school safety equipment funding for a yet-to-be-determined middle school. The grant will pay for the purchase of two new internet protocol cameras, network cabling at camera locations, brackets, dedicated network switches, a network video recorder with 18 terabytes of storage and labor for installation. Some $65,733 in Student in Crisis Services funds will cover the cost of contracting a licensed mental health service provider who will provide in-school therapy for all district scis to manage crisis prevention and suicidal risk assessments in addition to supporting social workers, nurses, school psychologists and other school staff members. Some $15,000 will be spent for school safety training for administrators, counselors and behavior specialists in Restorative Therapy and Circle Process developed by Cynthia Zwicky, a leading expert on the subject from the University of Minnesota. Mills said WCS is working to address the social and emotional needs of our students while providing a safe and constructive environment for chance and growth. The training would focus on creating safe environments and shifting the culture of the building, while addressing stressful and crisis-evoking situations for students, teachers and the overall classroom, Mills said. The Circle Process offers a different way of dealing with the challenges of everyday life as well as responding to the larger challenges we face. Many of our students have sufr it be physical violence, abandonment, homelessness or hunger. Mills said this internal trauma, if not addressed, often manifests in external violence. Mills said the training will assist staff members in recognizing early signs of trauma and elicit intervention before it becomes a violent and much more advanced i