Hopkins School Board Weighs Continued One Voice Coalition Funding

school administrators are asking School Board directors to approve further funding for Hopkins Community Coalition: One Voice—despite .

Katie Williams—director of community education, communications and marketing—said the money is needed because the first phase of the new grant focuses exclusively on measuring alcohol abuse.

That leaves out existing parent education and student involvement programs that are part of the school district’s drug-prevention effort. The $22-an-hour coordinator pay allowed under the grant could also wind up being too low to attract qualified candidates.

Last year, to keep the program going after a 10-year federal grant expired. That approval came with the condition that the coalition returns any money left over if it receives an outside grant. Some directors also said they thought the coalition should have had another grant lined up since the federals grant’s expiration was known beforehand.

With the new grant, the coalition will end up spending about $46,000 to $50,000 of the $100,000 the School Board authorized. The district is asking permission to spend an additional $31,000 through June 2013.

That’s a total of about $80,000 over two years instead of $100,000 over one year.

The money would go toward continued funding of a five-hour-per-week parent education position and set aside $5,000 to $6,000 for student involvement programs.

It could also be used to pad the coordinator’s pay if necessary. Williams said these coordinators are likely highly educated and noted that the previous One Voice coordinator, , was able to take a director-level position when she left her job—becoming Anoka-Hennepin School District’s wellness/SHIP grant coordinator within its Department of Community Education.

School Board directors will decide whether to approve additional money as part of the ongoing budget approval process.