(College Station)—The Center for Community Support (CCS) in the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) has helped Round Rock ISD secure a $7.2 million grant as part of ASAP (Accelerating Safety; Achieving Prevention) beginning this fall.
The grant will benefit all schools in the RRISD, the Children's Support Coalition, the Bluebonnet Trails Community Mental Health Mental Retardation Agency, the Round Rock Police, the Williamson County Juvenile Services Agency and 21 other community-based organizations.
All of the organizations will unite under the grant to achieve a number of goals, including safer school environments, reductions in alcohol, tobacco and campus violence, increased readiness to learn for children aged zero to five, and the development of a system of care that reduces barriers to high academic achievement through comprehensive violence prevention initiatives that increase parent involvement.
Regents Professor and Center for Community Support Director Dr. Charles Johnson envisions great things happening through the grant.
"It is an extremely comprehensive program, addressing the full range of health and safety needs of students in the Round Rock school district," he said. "The broad resources of the community, not simply those of the school system, have been committed to this effort to improve the health and development of the community's future citizens and leaders."
The TEES CCS is an active partner throughout the state, securing more than $32 million in funded grants over the past several years. TEES is the engineering research agency of the State of Texas and a member of the A&M System.