CHESAPEAKE — The state of Ohio has awarded nearly $300,000 in grant funds to support the improvement of literacy programs and safety upgrades at Collins Career Technical Center.

The Reaching All Students Through Language and Literacy sub-grant provides $200,000 for developing a state-wide literacy program aimed at addressing learning gaps from educational disruptions caused by the pandemic. CCTC was one of twenty-five districts to receive the funding, which primarily focuses on students of color, English learners, and students from rural regions of Ohio. 

“Teachers are working hard, but we know the pandemic slowed student learning,” Adam Pittis, the district’s superintendent, said. “These funds will strengthen CCTC’s position as a leader in addressing the learning gaps students have faced in our part of the state.”

Staff members at CCTC will join educators from the other twenty-four award recipients to participate in eight training sessions provided by the Ohio Department of Education. Once complete, these districts will begin a project to develop a state-wide literacy support network for Ohio schools. 

Teachers will be equipped with strategies that include understanding language and dialect in the classroom, family and community engagement, and drawing on and building students’ background knowledge and vocabulary to improve reading outcomes.

The district was also awarded $91,850 as part of the Ohio K-12 School Safety Grants Program. These funds will update surveillance systems in and around the main campus buildings and implement measures to reduce line of site visibility from the outside. 

According to Pittis, the district had already begun upgrading surveillance at the main campus over the summer break.

“This money will go a long way to upgrading the technology of our surveillance system,” he said. “The window film was a project we had already started. The grant allows us to free up that money for some of our other priorities.” 

Each portion of the upgrades will improve the district’s vulnerability score; a standardized measurement used to determine school campus safety.