School Superintendent Kathy Hoffman and the Arizona Department of Education Release Additional School Safety Grants

Citing the need to promote greater mental health and school safety for Arizona students after over a year of being educated mostly through virtual learning at home under the cloud of the Coronavirus, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, along with state legislators and education stakeholders at the State Capitol, announced the release of just over $21 million toward the second phase of the School Safety Grant Program.

Among the State Legislators who joined Superintendent Hoffman at the presentation in the Capitol Rose Garden was Ranking Democratic Member of the House Education Committee Jennifer Pawlik (who also spoke,) Christine Marsh, Athena Salman, Judy Schweibert,  Arizona Democratic Party Chair Raquel Teran, House Democratic Leader Reginald Bolding, and Daniel Hernandez.

The Educator stakeholders who attended the press gathering and made comments supporting the release of these much-needed grants were:

• Claire Novak, a student at Arizona School for the Arts.
• Laura Toenjes, Superintendent of the Kyrene School District.
• Christina Martinez, Executive Board Member of the School Social Worker Association of Arizona.
• Sarah Skemp, Chairperson of the Arizona Schools Counselor Association.

The $21 million comes from the CARES Act discretionary funding to the Arizona Department of Education.

These funds, which will go to 140 schools in traditional and charter public school districts across ten Arizona Counties, will provide monies for 71 counselors and 69 social worker positions.

Please read below to see which schools were awarded grants to fund new counselors and social workers.

It should be noted that these grants, without permanent funding allocations from the State Government or additional grant opportunities, will only last two years.

Before speaking at the State Capitol, Superintendent Hoffman issued two statements regarding the second installment of school safety grants.

The first, on the Department of Education page where the new grants were announced, the Superintendent wrote:

“By supplementing the School Safety Grant Program with federal relief funds, we are providing real solutions and resources that will have a direct impact on school safety, the social-emotional well-being of our students, and the overall health of our communities.”

Later on social media, Ms. Hoffman called for the Arizona State Legislature and Governor Ducey to act to permanently fund these programs, stating:

“Two years ago, my administration fought to expand the School Safety Grant Program to include funding for school counselor and social worker positions. Those successful efforts brought more than 260 social & emotional support professionals to our schools.”

“Over the last year, students’ social & emotional needs rose to the forefront of community conversations. Parents, teachers, and lawmakers have agreed that the social-emotional services offered by public schools are critical to student wellbeing.”

“Despite the need, the majority party has offered no serious solutions for providing #SEL resources to students. Today, the Arizona Department of Education is stepping up in their place by allocating $21.3 million to fund the School Safety Grant Program waitlist for school counselors & social workers.”

“It’s not too late for the #AZleg and state leaders to act. As lawmakers and state leaders work on the budget, I urge them to commit to student mental health and wellbeing by supporting our teachers, public schools, and the students they serve.”

Later at the press gathering at the Capitol Rose Garden, Superintendent Hoffman responded to several questions from journalists.

Among her responses, were:

• She would be calling on the state legislature to permanently fund these programs once the grant monies run out. The Superintendent was grateful for having the discretionary funding from the CARES Act to fund these “immediate and urgent”  mental health positions at qualifying schools for the next two years, calling it “substantial.”
• The emphasis of this phase of the grant allotments was promoting mental health and that is why counselors and social workers were funded and not school resource officers.
• She said there “were more urgent things to focus on (in Arizona education) than vaccine passports” which Governor Ducey forbade via an Executive Order earlier on April 19, 2021. Hoffman said the focus should be “on getting people vaccinated.”
• The impact of COVID 19 and school closures on child social development is difficult to gauge right now and will probably vary across all the Arizona local communities and “student’s individual circumstances.” Hoffman also said that she thought students were “resilient” and if they are provided the tools for success, they will do so.
• She favors a community school model where greater access to more mental health professionals may help alleviate the teacher shortage because it will provide extra support and relief to both students and instructors.
• The mask mandates in schools will continue at least through the summer. 

Please click here to watch the whole event.