STATE COLLEGE — State College Area School Board on Monday, July 20 heard about a new program meant to support students who have experienced a traumatic event.
The district plans to implement Handle With Care, an initiative supported by the state Attorney General’s office that brings together local law enforcement agencies and school districts.
Through a simple, confidential process, schools can be notified when a child has been present during a potentially traumatic incident requiring a police response.
When law enforcement responds to a situation involving a child, they may send a confidential notification to the school principal indicating that the student should be “handled with care.”
While this does not include information about the event itself, it allows school staff to be aware that a student may need additional support, understanding, or flexibility when they return to school.
“This sounds like an amazing program,” said Director Jennifer Black. “In many cases the district would never have an idea that a student is dealing with something like this.”
Handle With Care has been successfully implemented in numerous Pennsylvania counties, including Lehigh, Northampton, Luzerne, Somerset, and 20 additional counties statewide.
Also at the meeting, the board heard an update on the recently passed Pennsylvania state budget. The district will receive about 1% more state funding than anticipated. The biggest increase went to the State High Career and Technical Center, which will receive $464,968, or about twice what was estimated.
In other business, the board:
- Heard an update on the Park Forest Middle School Project. The district received conditional approval on its land development plan from Patton Township earlier this month. Several items are still outstanding before final land development approval is granted, mostly surrounding various agreements and easements, administrators said.
- Agreed to share the cost of installing pedestrian crossing signs on Brandywine Drive with College Township for $10,000.
- Accepted a low bid of $426,000 from M.L.P Electric of $426,000 to install portable generator quick-connect systems at State High, Delta, and Park Forest Elementary.
- Accepted low bids of $81,020 from Veronesi Building for general construction and $32,519 from M.L.P Electric for electrical work for renovations of the Panorama Village Administrative Building.
