MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The Monongalia County School System hopes to improve the prospects of students affected by the opioid crisis with the help of the West Virginia First Foundation.
Deputy School Superintendent Donna Talerico announced that the system has applied for up to $689,000 in funding as part of the process of distributing WV First Foundation Initial Opportunity Grant dollars. The application was approved by the Monongalia County Board of Education (BOE) in the months ahead of its submission after communications with WV First Foundation board member Jonathan Board regarding ways the school system can use after-school activities to positively influence the opioid crisis.
“What this grant will allow is for us to touch every single school and to expand (on extracurricular programs) what we already have here,” said Talerico on the purpose of applying for the Initial Opportunity Grant. “And then (we can) do the education piece on opioids and (use) the resources that are available through this avenue,” she said.
According to Talerico, the approximately $689,000 grant request would cover a combination of staffing and programming costs that would focus on extracurricular activities at Monongalia County Schools. This would include the hiring of an extra high school teacher, an extra school counselor, educational materials related to opioid and substance abuse, and the provision of transportation past regular school hours. Combined, the school system hopes that it would create an extra avenue to reach older students who are more vulnerable to opioid and substance abuse.
“The big components (are) personnel and resource materials through HOPE, which is Health and Opioid Prevention Education, which we could deliver on site,” said Talerico. “(Deliver them) to families and students during the time that they’re with us,” she said.
The application towards the West Virginia First Foundation Initial Opportunity Grant was submitted on the recommendation of board member Jonathan Board, who also formerly served as executive director when conversations began. According to Talerico, Board (who currently serves as a Region 4 board member for the foundation) was receptive towards the Monongalia County School System approach addressing the region-wide issue, which led to a formal grant application being submitted in the following months. While Board advised school system officials that there will be several other competing applications, Talerico expressed optimism that their proposal will at least be openly considered.
“In return, he (Board) reached out to us to indicate to us that there was a grant opportunity, it’s competitive, very highly competitive, but that we should consider applying,” Talerico said.
Talerico also mentioned that regardless of whether the school system’s application for the WV First Foundation Initial Opportunity Grant is accepted, plans are still in place to explore grant funding for expanded extracurricular activities. This includes exploring a combination of state and federal grants that are currently open for applications ahead of the start of 2025. While the WV First Foundation won’t officially announce the recipients of the Initial Opportunity Grant until the end of the year, the Monongalia County School System plans to explore every avenue possible so they can help students affected by the opioid crisis.
“We will continue to pursue every grant opportunity that we are aware of, and we are actively pursuing grants that are out there,” Talerico said. “Sometimes it’s just being made aware that those are even there on a federal level or a state level,” she said.