The hallways are now being painted at New Haven’s Lincoln Basset School, and additional improvements are in the works thanks to a grant from the state Bond Commission, which is handing out more than $6 million to troubled schools in 10 districts around the state.
“Some of it will go for capital improvement, some of it will go for technology,” explained Lincoln Basset School Principal Janet Brown-Clayton. “We’re woefully underserved in terms of technological advancements in the school.”
Schools in New Haven, New Britain, Derby, New London, Bloomfield, Bridgeport, East Hartford, Hartford, Middletown and Meriden will receive government grants in an effort to improve academic performance.
Parents and grandparents welcome the help.
“I certainly hope that some children that would not be able to do or get some advantages will then be able to be taken care of,” said Elizabeth Roy of New Britain.
The grants are designed to help troubled schools improve their academic performance. Of the 82 that were eligible to receive grants, 47 applied and 28 received money for the 2014-2015 school year, according to the state.
“We’ve known where the schools are that are struggling,” explained state Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor. “In some instances, schools have been struggling for years, even decades. The state has been on the sidelines of the process of turning schools around.”
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The money is funded by federal and state resources through the School Improvement Grant, Competitive Grant and the High School Redesign Grant, according to a release from the state Department of Education. The grants were announced Monday at the Lincoln-Basset School in New Haven.
“This money speaks to what is necessary [for students] to feel that they’re cared about, that the community is cared about,” Brown-Clayton said.
