BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Bridgeport Public Schools has vowed to address its budget gap, which it recently reported is approximately $38 million.
This week, the district announced its teenage students will benefit from both state and federal assistance. On Tuesday, local and state officials gathered in the city to declare that its high schools will be aided by $1.2 million in grants from the state’s Department of Health and U.S. Department of Justice.
The money will give students at Bassick High School, Central High School and Warren Harding High School expanded access to mental health services. LifeBridge Community Services, which supports the mental health and well-being of residents in the greater Bridgeport area, will receive the funding to bring its resources to the district.
“We are thrilled that students will continue to get the support they need, despite the district’s budget challenges,” Acting Bridgeport Superintendent Dr. Royce Avery said in a release. “This collaboration with LifeBridge, the State and the DOJ is exactly the kind of partnerships we are proactively seeking to secure additional resources that will help maintain our programs that are vital to our students.”
Although it was only several weeks ago that the district announced its $38 million budget gap, Bridgeport Public Schools submitted 87 grant applications for fiscal year 2024, bringing in $97 million. For fiscal year 2025, the district has already applied to over 50 grants in pursuit of $94 million to support its students.
Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim joined the ceremony on Tuesday and thanked U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Congressman Jim Himes for providing LifeBridge with the grant to help the city’s students.
“The strategic implementation of this grant will help our school administrators to focus on the challenges that our young people face daily as they receive the resources and care they need within our schools,” Ganim said. “As mental health and social emotional learning has progressively become a top priority regarding the care of our students, this grant will help in a tremendous way to address the needs of the students in our city.”
Edith Boyle, president and CEO of LifeBridge, pointed out that the behavioral healthcare organization partners with schools, healthcare providers, law enforcement officials and the public.
“[We aim] to prevent acts of violence, treat the effects of exposure to violence and promote trauma-informed practices,” Boyle said.
LifeBridge employees began working with Harding students earlier in November, providing violence intervention and prevention services that include Social Emotional Learning programming, while training school staff with a $200,000 grant from DPH.
The district says a second, three-year $1 million DOJ grant that LifeBridge will receive will provide both Community Resilience Model training for educators and increased access to mental health services, complementing the SEL services students are given.
Himes said that LifeBridge understands that reducing violence in schools begins with mental and emotional support for struggling students. He added that the grant money will ensure that Bridgeport’s public schools are able to offer critical resources and ensure educators are trained in de-escalation and counseling.
“For nearly 180 years, LifeBridge has looked out for our community’s most vulnerable, and I am thrilled that this federal funding will strengthen their mission and ensure that Bridgeport’s children are set up to succeed,” Himes said.
According to the district, LifeBridge has already hired a new SEL director, as members of the organization’s leadership coordinate with Bridgeport Public Schools officials regarding the launch of programs.
Blumenthal is optimistic that the program will work and provide a model for the country.
“There aren’t that many communities that are going to have it,” he said. “We’re going to be looking to you to show us success so that the federal government, and maybe others, will commit even more support.”
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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