For the first time the North Tonawanda City School District will be able to hire school counselors for elementary students. WBFO'S Focus on Education reporter Eileen Buckley says the school is receiving a more than $1.17 million grant from the U.S. Education Department.
"School districts, like this one, are taking aggressive to perusing federal funding for these programs," said Congressman Brian Higgins. He announced the funding for the North Tonawanda City Schools.
The district will now be able to hire four new counselors and a school psychologist will serve the District's four elementary and middle school.
"So this is going to be huge for North Tonawanda as a community because we can help the kids before they get to a bad level," said Superintendent Greg Woytila.
Woytila tells WBFO News current counselors are not permanently assigned, but the need is very high in his district.
"So this is going to really allow to have the staff, the time to educate the families on what they maybe need do to follow up or to work with the kids to get them ready, so it is going to be a big help to us," said Woytila.
The District will spend a little more than $390,000 dollars each of the next three years to fund the jobs.
Three Counselors will be at Meadow, Ohio and Spruce School, the district's largest elementary schools. A fourth will work at both Drake Elementary and provided services at the Middle School.
The counselors will be in place for the start of the next school year in September.
