Posts Tagged ‘military children’

The Pentagon is in the midst of a five-year, $3.7 billion effort to improve the physical condition of department schools that are in poor or failing condition, Marilee Fitzgerald, director of the DOD Education Activity, told reporters Thursday. “Today, we have 49 schools in design. I believe eight schools are under construction, and we’ve opened up some new schools,” Fitzgerald said during a Pentagon news conference. The initiative is intended to upgrade 134 of the system’s 194 schools …

The Defense Department recently awarded $60 million to upgrade and replace schools at two military installations, the first two grants under a $500 million federal appropriation intended to construct, renovate or expand facilities at 161 public schools located on military installations. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced the awards Tuesday at a seminar sponsored by the Military Child Education Coalition to demonstrate the department’s effort to invest in the education of military children …

The era when doctors routinely made house calls has long passed, but an Army program is paying for mental health professionals to visit on-base schools at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to work with children having trouble coping with their parents’ deployments and other issues. The specialists, which include clinical social workers and other experts, visit the six on-base elementary schools at the installation operated by the Clover Park School District. They provide individual therapy, family therapy, medication management and other treatment …

Gov. Deval Patrick signed legislation last week making Massachusetts the 43rd state to adopt an interstate agreement intended to smooth the transition between school districts when military children move. The Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children addresses key educational transition issues encountered by military families, including enrollment, class placement, attendance, graduation requirements, eligibility and extracurricular opportunities …

A survey released Wednesday by Blue Star Families found that 62 percent of military family members who believed their service member had exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, regardless of any official diagnosis, did not seek treatment due to doubts about the military’s support system. The finding demonstrates there is still much to be done to help service members and their families deal with the invisible wounds of war, concluded the nonprofit dedicated to supporting military families …

The Massachusetts Senate last week unanimously approved legislation extending benefits and increasing access to a range of services for military personnel, their families and veterans. The Valor Act would provide an array of benefits to help veterans and active military members obtain improved business, educational and housing opportunities …

In a letter sent in conjunction with the Month of the Military Child, Education Secretary Arne Duncan asks public school superintendents to better address the needs of military-connected students. “We want all military-connected school children to have an equal and fair opportunity for academic success. This requires that those individuals who make up our nation’s educational system — our teachers, principals, school nurses, coaches, and counselors — understand the unique situations the children of our service members experience …

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal last week signed legislation making the state the 42nd to adopt an interstate agreement ensuring the uniform treatment of military children transferring between school districts. The goal of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children is to make transition easier so that military children — who typically attend from six to nine different school systems from K-12 — are afforded the same opportunities as other children …

Military families living on installations should have more flexibility to choose the schools for their children when they attend schools operated by local school systems, according to report language in the portion of the draft fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill to be marked up today by the House Armed Services’ Military Personnel Subcommittee. While some school systems allow families to choose the particular school their children attend through inter- or intra-district transfer programs, many do not and are assigned schools based on geographic boundaries …

Military families will wear heart monitors as part of a University of Minnesota study assessing the stress of deployment on Guard and Reserve families. Minnesota was chosen for the study — which is scheduled to track 400 families over five years — because its citizen-soldiers generally are older and more likely to have families than service members on active duty …