April 11, 2011. The Lakeland Ledger.
LAKELAND | More Polk County public schools will have “Positive Behavior Support” to reduce school disruptions and out-of-school suspensions, Assistant Superintendent Nancy Woolcock promised Monday night at the Polk Ecumenical Action Council for Empowerment’s 11th annual Nehemiah Action.
That pledge pleased PEACE members, as did assurances from Polk County Commissioner Bob English and Sheriff Grady Judd that the Hope Now program for drug abusers is willing to expand beyond being a male-only transition program from jail.
“We will have drug treatment, a comprehensive program for lifestyle change,” said Harry Pettit, chairman of the PEACE drugs and crime committee.
English got a standing ovation from the 1,000-plus crowd when he repeated his support for a plan to “significantly” increase access to health care.
“I feel very good about it,” said Frances Phipps, a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lakeland, after the meeting ended.
“About the promises and the direction we are headed … with our support and everybody’s help, it will happen.”
John Snapp, a member of First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland, said he supports what PEACE is working toward.
“It’s a shame we didn’t have more commissioners here,” he said.
Although all were invited, English was the only county commissioner at the event held at Church of the Resurrection in Lakeland.
The Rev. Matthew Mello, its pastor, stressed the importance of PEACE’s work on health care, drug abuse, and school retention.
“We speak for others who have no voice,” he said. “We speak for ourselves who have a common voice.”
PEACE is a countywide alliance of church congregations that pushes for reforms in a variety of areas.
The Positive Behavior Support program, now in 63 elementary and 17 middle schools, will be introduced to high school principals.
And at least nine more middle schools will be at the second stage of that process — innovative interventions for students who have problems with behavior, attendance and academics.
Those were the answers sought and received by PEACE, whose youth concerns committee has been researching Polk schools’ dropout rate.
Studies show a link between high dropout rates and high rates of school suspensions, said the Rev. Jean Cooley of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lakeland.
First-time funding of up to $360,000 from April to September for Hope Now, a residential drug-treatment program, won approval this month from the advisory committee that oversees how Polk County spends money from the half-cent indigent care sales tax.
The Polk County Commission needs to vote on that funding, which English said could occur later this month.
Still ahead for the commission will be deciding what action to take in expanding access to health care for the uninsured. County officials are reviewing proposals on how to do that better.
