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Board considers adding community liaison at Mahone using Fund 80 and DCFS partnership
Summary
District staff proposed adding an eighth community liaison position—funded half by the district (Fund 80) and half by the Department of Children and Families (DCFS)—to place a liaison at Mahone Middle School; DCFS approval for the calendar year was reported and the board was asked to authorize budget alignment with DCFS’s fiscal calendar.
District staff asked the board to approve adding an eighth community liaison position to place a Fund 80–supported community liaison at Mahone Middle School. The community liaison program is a long-standing Fund 80 program that provides case-management services for students (attendance, behavior, family liaison, referrals to services) and is jointly funded by partners such as DCFS and community organizations in some placements.
Administrators said most comprehensive middle and high schools already have a community liaison; Mahone is currently the only comprehensive middle school without one and the district presented data showing Mahone has a high volume of discipline referrals relative to school size. The district reported DCFS had approved the partner contribution for the 02/2025 calendar year, and asked the board to extend the 2023–24 budget to align with DCFS’s budget calendar and to approve district funding of the other half of the position from Fund 80 so the role can begin when DCFS funding starts.
The CFO explained Fund 80 is the community services fund supported by a voter-approved levy distinct from the general fund; it is used for community-service type programs and cannot be shifted back into the general fund. The CFO said the district has not increased the Fund 80 levy in about a decade and that reserves built up during COVID allowed the district to absorb some program costs; the CFO told trustees the additional half-position cost can be covered within Fund 80 without raising the levy.
Administrators said DCFS representatives and other partners would be present at the full-board meeting to answer questions about the joint funding and program operations.
