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Check and Connect mentoring program faces staffing cuts as county grant expires; district outlines mitigation steps
Summary
District staff reported mentor staffing for the Check and Connect program fell from 15 to 8 this year, with mentors able to support roughly 25 students each; a Saint Louis County grant that helped fund the program ends this year and the district says it will need budget discussions and alternative strategies to maintain services.
The Duluth Public School District presented an update Thursday on the Check and Connect mentoring program and told the board that mentor staffing has been reduced and outside grant funding is set to expire.
Sarah Lulanen, the district's Check and Connect coordinator, told the board mentor positions fell from 15 to 8, a change that removed mentors from some middle-school preventative work. "We shrunk from 15 to 8," Lulanen said when asked about staffing levels. Program staff estimated an experienced mentor can support roughly 25 students, and site-level caseloads vary:…
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