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John F. Kennedy Center tells Erie board prevention must be a district priority; 21st Century after-school program struggles to meet funded enrollment
Summary
John F. Kennedy Center leaders told the board their prevention work addresses early indicators of later substance use and mental-health issues and asked the district to make prevention programming a required, funded priority. The center also reported 116 students served in year 3 of its 21st Century program, short of the 200-student funded target and describing operational hurdles including reimbursement timing.
Representatives from the John F. Kennedy Center told the Erie School District board on April 15 that early prevention work is essential and should be embedded into district priorities and funding, not left as an optional pilot.
"If we already have this data and we choose not to act differently, then this is no longer a student problem, it becomes a system problem," said Selena Gavin, JFK's prevention specialist, citing local indicators she said predict substance abuse and mental-health challenges. Gavin gave local figures for fourth graders: "Over half of our fourth graders, 52 percent, roughly 850 children are being bullied sometimes, often, or always," and said "more than 80 percent of the same 8-…
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