The Danville Independent School District is one of 20 school districts selected by the Kentucky Department of Education to receive a KY Transition 360 SPARK: Supporting Postsecondary Achievement and Resources for Kentucky Students with Disabilities (SPARK) grant.

According to a press release from KDE, the grant will provide $75,000 to the district "to strengthen transition programming [and] improve postsecondary outcomes for students with disabilities" through increased collaboration with community partners, enhanced family-to-school partnerships and expanded student supports.

Assistant Special Education Director Amber Driver worked on the grant application along with Community Schools Director Dakota Yates and Chief Academic Officer Suzanne Farmer.

Driver said the DISD has three goals as part of the grant.

The district will collaborate with Education Associates, Inc. to provide career readiness kits adapted for students with disabilities and with the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to improve overall postsecondary support for our students. 

By 8th grade the goal is to have students complete a training module through the adaptive learning kits. Some of the kits are related to human services like childcare, autobody detailing, animal care, greenhouse, cleaning and maintenance. By the end of 10th grade, the aim is for students to learn on-the-job skills whether it’s with cafeteria workers, maintenance workers or bus garage employees, as examples. The grant will allow the district to provide a stipend to employees who provide these experiences for students.

"We’re really hoping we can utilize supports in our school district and the people that we have who are knowledgeable in those areas," Driver said.

After that, the aim is for students to move into an internship in the community. 

Driver said in using the kits through Education Associates, the organization's data reflects that students have a 100% increase in graduation rate, 56% decrease in dropout rate, and 97% increase in employment rate.  
Another goal is to work with community resources to support parents and families so they’re engaged in transition planning for students. This will include improving transition assessment, trying to gauge what students might have an interest in or how they might learn best.

The third goal is to provide professional learning opportunities for staff to improve coaching sessions with students. 

There is a team of district staff who will support the grant work made up of district administrators, school-level administrators, special education teachers and other teachers, a Career and Technical Education teacher, parents/guardians, students and additional stakeholders.

Driver said the district applied for the grant after families indicated on a survey that they don't always know how to help their child plan for postsecondary life, and the district identified postsecondary readiness support as a significant need.

"I really think with our [Portrait of a Danville Learner] skills, we want them to be active members of society, and I’m excited we’ll have extra resources and we’ll have the ability to provide them with really good, specific skills," she said.