PACOIMA : Grant to Fund Social Services at Schools

Administrators at four Pacoima schools are developing a plan to expand health and social services for nearly 5,000 elementary students after receiving a $50,000 grant from the state Department of Education.

By allowing schoolchildren and parents to receive help at school sites with physical and social problems, administrators hope to improve the academic performance of students at Montague, Telfair and Pacoima elementary schools and Maclay primary school.

“There are so many things interfering with children’s learning. My parents come to me with all kinds of things. They tell me, ‘I have no food in my house,’ ” said Diane Pritchard, principal of Montague Elementary. “The end-all is to get our children to achieve at a higher level in our school.”

All four schools already offer some form of health or social services to students and their families through partnerships with community agencies. The one-year Healthy Start planning grant, effective July 1, will help the schools devise a way to expand and link those services, which include counseling, youth and recreation programs and medical services.

“One of the things we’re kicking around is some kind of transportation,” said Brenda Litt, Telfair’s coordinator of special funding. She said transportation would help parents take advantage of different services offered at the four schools.

Once administrators formulate a plan, the four-school cluster may apply for up to $400,000 in state money to implement it during the 1994-95 school year.