Safe & Drug Free Schools and Communities Act Grant (SDFSCA)
The Safe & Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA) provides funds to districts to establish, operate, and improve local programs for drug and violence prevention.
For the school year 2007-08 the Penn Manor School District will receive an allocation of $14,036 in grant funds under this act. The current grant represents about the same allocation as last year. The grant is developed annually by Penn Manor’s Safe Schools Committee which is comprised of students, parents, community agencies, and school staff.
The following performance measures (italics), programs and costs for this grant were submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the school year 2006-07:
To reduce the number of alcohol, tobacco, and/or other drug policy violations.
- Student Assistance Program (SAP): The Student Assistance Program (SAP) is a statewide initiative designed to provide support services for students who may be at risk or experience problems which pose a barrier to a student's learning and school success. Each school district forms a SAP Team of school staff who were trained to identify problems and make recommendations to assist the student and parent.
The effectiveness of the grant sponsored programs is evaluated at the end of each school year by the Safe Schools Committee using data from the PDE 360 Annual Violence and Weapons Report, district policy violations, and Student Assistance Program Performance Outcome Report. The following summary of Program Effectiveness and Needs for the 2006-2007 school year was completed in June 2007:
At the high school the number of drug policy violations declined by 35% from last year. The number of alcohol policy violations remained at zero. The number of fighting/violence policy violations went from 7 to 24. Weapons policy violations resulted in an increase from one incident to four.
At the middle school level, there was a decrease in the number of drug policy violations from 3 violations to 1. There was a decrease in alcohol policy violations from two last year to zero this year. There was a 60% increase in the number of weapons policy violations from 2 to 5 violations.
At the elementary school level, all policy violations remained at very infrequent levels.
Student Assistance Program: Performance data from the SAP showed continued benefits of the program. At the high school, zero SAP students violated D&A policy since referral compared to one last year and three the year before that. Only two students showed a decline in attendance. 87% of the students showed improved/remained the same academic performance. At the middle school level, only two of the referred students violated D&A policy after referral. Three of the students showed a decline in academic performance and two of the students showed a decline in attendance.
Although no longer being funded through this grant, the bully prevention programs continued at the middle school level with a speaker kickoff and six bully prevention lessons taught throughout the year. Feedback from the lessons have been positive. More students have been willing to responsibly report.
Based on the 2005 PA Youth Survey, protective factors identified for Penn Manor included belief in moral order and school opportunities for prosocial involvement. Risk factors included laws and norms favorable to drug use and handguns and personal transitions and mobility.
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