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Muskegon County to pilot grant-funded graphic-novel driver-safety program for ninth-graders
Summary
The Muskegon County Sheriff's Office introduced a pilot grant that will distribute graphic-novel educational materials to ninth-grade students across a 17-county region, with Muskegon County handling local distribution; the program includes pre- and post-testing to measure impact and uses existing county staff for in-kind distribution.
Ken Sanford of the Muskegon County Sheriff’s Office introduced a new grant-funded pilot on Oct. 16 that will provide ninth-grade students with a graphic-novel–style driver-safety curriculum aimed at seat-belt use, distracted driving and other risks. "It's a new grant that we're gonna utilize, focusing on safety and driving, cell phone use, seat belt speed," Sanford said.
The program is structured as a 17-county pilot in which printed materials will be provided to sheriff's offices around the region and distributed locally by each county’s law-enforcement staff. Sanford said Muskegon County will use existing county personnel on an in-kind basis to deliver materials in schools and that the county will not need additional budgeted dollars for distribution. "It's merely taking money that's already existed in the budget and creating a new buying item and moving that number over to cover the cost," he said.
Sanford said the Office of Highway Safety and Planning (OHSP) is covering materials and development costs; he identified an in-kind distribution contribution of roughly $50,000 and estimated materials/development at about $161,000 paid by OHSP. The county will conduct pre- and post-testing with ninth graders to assess the program’s effectiveness. When asked whether other Michigan counties have run the program, Sanford said, "As a matter of fact, they have not. This is a new program we are piloting."
Deputy Scott Foster was introduced as part of the team supporting the rollout, and Sanford said he has worked with Wheeler Creative Studios on children’s safety books in the past; Sanford committed to providing the board with copies of the three final books. Implementation will vary by geography: Sanford said sheriff’s deputies will distribute in rural areas while city police would handle distribution inside city limits where appropriate.
The packet references the grant and related budget items; no formal final action or vote on the pilot is recorded in the meeting transcript. Committee members pressed for details on evaluation and implementation during discussion; county staff said they will provide the materials and testing plan as the pilot unfolds.
