Woodland Park officials push CDE grant applications to add counselors and behavior supports
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Summary
At a board work session, district staff outlined plans to pursue two Colorado Department of Education grants — the EARS grant and a School Counseling Core grant — to fund licensed counselors and programs addressing chronic absences, behavior and student mental‑health needs.
Superintendent‑level staff and board members at Woodland Park School District RE‑2 said the district will pursue state grants to expand counseling and behavior supports, emphasizing data the administration described as evidence of growing need.
District presenter (Speaker 2) said the grants under consideration are the EARS grant, aimed at students with high attendance and behavior risk, and the School Counseling Core grant, intended to fund licensed counselors to help reach the national recommendation of one counselor per 250 students. "The next grant is for the school counseling core grant, and it's really to put a licensed school counselor in every building, and to the ratio of 1 to 250," Speaker 2 said.
Why it matters: School leaders described multiple linked indicators — food insecurity, housing instability, high suspension counts and rising chronic absenteeism — that they say make additional counseling and early‑intervention programming urgent. Speaker 2 reported that "right now in Willow Park, 35 percent of our students are identified as free and reduced lunch," and said 29 students are known to qualify for McKinney‑Vento services because they lack regular housing.
Supporting details: The district provided semester‑one disciplinary and attendance figures: 102 recorded behavior events with 25 out‑of‑school suspensions and 37 in‑school suspensions in the secondary schools; 291 secondary students missed more than five days this semester and the two elementary schools combined saw 281 students miss more than five days. Staff absences were also cited as a strain on operations.
Grant logistics and limits: Administration said CDE application windows can be tight and that typical planning awards provide modest start‑up funds — "like 30 to $50,000" — which can pay for community convenings and planning but not ongoing salary costs. Staff warned that the grants are intended to supplement, not replace, existing positions.
Board direction and next steps: The board gave the administration a general positive reception to pursuing applications and asked for community input as part of any grant planning process. Staff said awards are usually decided in the spring and that the district will use awarded planning funds to convene stakeholders and develop implementation plans for 2027 if selected.
Outlook: District leaders said pursuing both grants will require staff time for applications and community engagement but could fund additional licensed counseling capacity and evidence‑based training (including QPR suicide‑prevention training) that administrators argued is needed to lower suspensions and absenteeism.