Dyer to address school funding initiative at D.C. meeting

GAINESVILLE - Gainesville Supt. of Schools Merrianne Dyer will be in Washington Tuesday to speak to a number of superintendents from around the country about a program used in Gainesville which seeks to expand "learning opportunities" in a tough economy.

Dr. Dyer says the meeting is "officially" the "Community School Superintendents Council Convening." She said the purpose of the meeting is to bring together a small group of superintendents who lead community schools or districts to develop a common framework of how to develop and sustain "community schools."

Community schools, she added, are defined as schools that regularly integrate and incorporate community agencies and the medical field in providing family and student assistance .

The meeting is being convened by Martin Blank, President of the Institute for Educational Leadership and the Director of the Coalition for Community Schools. Other sponsoring groups are the American Association of School Administrators.

"The focus topic for the meeting," Dr. Dyer said, "is (how to) offer expanded learning opportunities, like after school or enrichment programs, during the challenging economic times?"

She said the involement of city schools in the leadership council "due to the work...with the UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools Rebuilding for Learning framework, which guides our strategic planning with a common goal in mind: to remove or address barriers to learning that our students have."

Gainesville is noteworthy, Dr Dyer said, "in that we have developed a framework using the UCLA system that regularly incorporates community agencies that serve our students in working with our school leaders , without additional funding sources to support the work."

Dyer said she had been asked to speak to the group about the system that the Gainesville school district has developed.

"In the tough budget times, many community schools are finding it difficult to continue their work," Dr. Dyer said, "so, my task is to describe the framework we use and explain how we sustain it without additional funding."