SHESC KARES Expansion

In October 2019, Smoky Hill Education Service Center (SHESC) was awarded a small BJA grant for a scalable anonymous reporting system to serve as many districts as we could reach. We are happy to report impressive results, and we request to expand the effort in partnership with 17 districts.  Initial results show that students desperately want to use this resource. The most recent report from the ARS provider shows 951 reported incidents from the 46 districts using the platform. Even with the pandemic closing Kansas schools just months after pilot grant funds became available, 178 schools in 45 districts serving over 54,000 students signed on to anonymous reporting (ARS) including SEL and Wellness training and resources.

The pilot grant overwhelmingly went to smaller, poorer districts. Thirty-nine of the 45 districts funded have an average K-12 student count of 435. More than half of the students served (28,769) attend schools located in Qualified Opportunity Zones. Despite—and perhaps because of—the overwhelming success, demand for ARS remains. Calls for additional assistance and services are widespread. Therefore, on behalf of our 17 district partners SHESC requests funds for ARS expansion to new schools and funds to expand services to meet the growing safety needs of current partner schools.

Based on user surveys, a large percentage of users requested Out-of-Hours Crisis Support “immediately” to give exhausted school administrators a break. They also appreciated in-app access to CrisisTextLine, a Panic Alert System for staff, and a Student Online Surveillance System. This grant will allow 17 new and current partner districts to select service packages based on their unique safety and security needs and gaps.

SHESC requests $742,746 of Category 2 STOP funds to expand ARS to cover over 40,000 NEW students in 10 districts and work with seven districts with ARS systems in place to add Out-of-Hours Crisis Support, Panic Alert, and Student Surveillance to better serve their 23,000+ students.