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"Safe Schools/Healthy Students"
Idabel, Oklahoma
| Partners: | Idabel Public Schools Carl Albert Mental Health McCurtain County Sheriff's Department | |
Almost 10,000 people reside in Idabel, with 1,704 students enrolled in the Idabel Public Schools. Forty-three percent of the students are non-Hispanic white, 35% African American, 20% Native American, and 3% Hispanic. There are 440 high school students, 280 middle school students, and 984 elementary students. Almost 70% qualify for free or reduced school lunch. Over the past 3 years, incidents of student drug use and student violence have increased steadily. As a result, last year, almost twice as many students were suspended or expelled from school than in the previous two years. Single parent families comprise 44% of the local population. A variety of school and community programs have been implemented in an attempt to improve student attachment to school and family. However, these programs have been able to serve only a fraction of those needing or wanting services.
The three lead agencies are joined by 19 additional partners from business, law enforcement, education, social services, and government, to form the "Coalition for Change." The coalition includes public and private entities such as the McCurtain County Educational Cooperative; Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma; McCurtain County District Attorney's Office; McCurtain County Office of Juvenile Affairs; Kiamichi Council on Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse; Southeastern Oklahoma for Family Violence, Inc.; Kiamichi Youth Services; Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Michael Johnson Productions, Inc.; and Pan Pacific Products, Inc.
The framework for the Idabel Safe School Project will be a community mobilization process to achieve a safer school and community. Community members and leaders will develop and implement plans to address minority issues, domestic violence, economic development, Native American needs, safe schools, drug and violence prevention, family wellness, early childhood needs, and school improvement. At the core of these efforts is training for Coalition members on communication, problem-solving, life skills, and early identification of problem behaviors. The Coalition will expand its current early childhood efforts to reach more families with children ages 0-3. Additional activities include a therapeutic nursery for children ages 2 to 7, early intervention for infants and toddlers with disabilities through age 3, and a teen pregnancy prevention program. Character education will be emphasized at school. A culturally specific curriculum and a rites-of-passage program will also be part of the educational reform efforts. Recreational needs of students will be met through after-school programs and a ROPES course for children ages 10 and up. An extended day program and expanded student assistance services will help students with disruptive behavior or psychological and mental health needs. School security will be enhanced through additional security staff (funded through the U.S. Department of Justice's COPS Office), truancy enforcement, and policy revisions.
A team framework will also be adopted to evaluate the community-wide strategy, with the University of Oklahoma overseeing the evaluation plan.
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[Portland, Oregon]