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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Gallup, New Mexico
| Partners: | Gallup-McKinley County School District Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services The Gallup Police Department | |
The Gallup-McKinley School District (GMCS) is geographically the largest in the United States, covering over 5,000 square miles. The District serves a student population of 14,400 students in 31 schools. The student population is 75% Native American, 13% Hispanic, 11% non-Hispanic White, and 1% other. Roughly half the county lies within the Navajo Indian Reservation, and over 10,000 school-age Navajos attend the District's public schools. English is a second language for 57% of these students. McKinley County is one of the poorest in the nation. Roughly 85% of the student population qualifies for Free or Reduced Cost Lunch Programs, and 43% of the county's residents live in poverty. The county's unemployment rate is 11%, and on the Navajo Reservation it can exceed 40%. GMCS students are at a high risk for alcohol and other drug use, violent behavior, and school failure. GMCS schools are characterized by low academic achievement, high teacher and counselor turnover, and high drop out rates. Students in this isolated rural area often face long travel times to school. As a result, they spend less time with their families.
The three core organizations have joined together with 28 other community partners to implement this project. These partners include health and social services organizations, such as the Indian Health Service, as well as community coalitions such as the Gallup McKinley Coalition for Youth, civic organizations, faith communities, and businesses.
To enhance early childhood development programs and mental health prevention and treatment services, a School Health Coordinator will be hired. This person will be responsible for case management and for the overall coordination of all mental health, psychosocial, and early childhood development services rendered to students in need. A student-focused suicide prevention program will be initiated. After school academic, enrichment, and physical activities will be conducted in 19 neighborhood-based elementary schools to promote drug and violence prevention and early intervention. Culturally appropriate comprehensive school health programs will also be implemented. Regarding educational reform, GMCS proposes to formally adopt, district-wide, the "National Education Goals" outlined in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act. A district-wide, age-appropriate, zero-tolerance discipline policy will be implemented. School safety will be promoted through the expansion of community oriented policing services to all schools in the district, in conjunction with local law enforcement agencies. In addition, district-wide education and training on avoiding and preventing violence will be implemented.
An outside evaluator will be contracted from the professorial staff at the University of New Mexico at Gallup or from Western New Mexico University's Gallup Graduate Studies Center.
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[Auburn, New York]