The Maine Department of Education is offering new funding to help expand the number of community schools, which are designed to bring in outside support services for families.
Ann Hanna, the community schools consultant for the Maine DOE, said that under the model, schools partner with local organizations to bring in services that could include child care, health care, and school-based food pantries.
"Kids come to school, with all kinds of needs that they may need to have addressed. And before they can really focus and be ready to learn, it's important to be able to find ways to address the whole child needs to set them up for success," Hanna said.
Hanna said that by assisting with students' and families' basic needs, schools can work together with families and address issues such as absenteeism.
"And so they recognize these challenges, and they provide solutions that are close to home, and are very much available, accessible to the students, and to the families," Hanna said.
The grants would help pay for a coordinator at a school that would work to identify needs and form partnerships with local groups.
Maine already has three community schools that have received state funding — in Portland, Old Town and New Sharon — and the new funding would add up to five more.
