Cabarrus County Schools is the only school system in North Carolina and one of 71 school systems across the nation to receive a School Climate Transformation grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
CCS will receive $3.7 million over five years to improve school learning environments through its Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) initiatives.
MTSS is a three-tiered system of support for all students and staff, which includes Responsiveness to Intervention (RtI), Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS), and Comprehensive Learning Supports.
The Department of Education made the grant awards under four new grant programs that were included in President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s “Now is the Time” plan to make schools safer, reduce gun violence and increase mental health services.
In all, the School Climate Transformation grants to school districts will provide more than $35.8 million to 71 school districts in 23 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The funds will be used to develop, enhance, or expand systems of support for implementing evidence-based, multi-tiered behavioral frameworks for improving behavioral outcomes and learning conditions for students.
“We are honored to receive this grant to use best practices to build our MTSS capacity in 16 of our schools” said Deputy Superintendent Jason VanHeukelum. “We expect this program to have a substantial impact on decreasing office discipline referrals and suspensions, increasing attendance, and building MTSS capacity to positively impact our students, teachers, schools, and community.”