Michigan Schools Have Fund for Mental Health, Technology – The Good News
It's *clap* about *clap* TIME!
The Michigan Department of Education has announced a new fund that will help to bridge the technology gap for students as well as providing more mental health services.
More than $37 million will be available for schools to apply for; applications opened up on Tuesday.
All school districts are eligible; however, districts that meet the following criteria will be given priority:
- Districts over 85% economically disadvantaged, and/or at least one school in the district is over 85% economically disadvantaged
- Districts over 20% students with disabilities
- Districts with over 10% English learners
According to WNEM-TV 5, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, “Additional funding from the federal government is crucial in closing the technology gap and ensuring our kids can receive a great public school education as we continue fighting COVID-19. This past school year, we learned how important it is to ensure students have the resources and support they need to continue learning from home. This federal funding will help ensure access to these resources, help our teachers easily reach their students at home, and help our students continue to learn and grow despite the crisis we’re facing.”
The additional funding can be used to purchase more technology for students, especially those who are economically disadvantaged and to provide more mental health services on-site.
This is much-needed on both ends. A lot of schools are starting completely virtually this month or next but not all students have access to the technology needed for this form of learning. And the mental health assistance is LONG overdue.
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