Rosemead : Garvey Schools Given Grant

The Garvey School District in Rosemead has received a $10,000 federal grant to help establish a diversion program designed to prevent delinquency by keeping troubled seventh- and eighth-grade students in school. The money will help cover the cost of a full-time special education teacher, a teacher’s aide and the time spent by other staff members, pupil personnel director Marcel Soriano said.

The program will begin in January and be based at Fern Intermediate School but also will serve Garvey Intermediate School, Soriano said. It will involve 20 to 25 students and take six months to complete. It is based on a program initiated last year by Almansor Education Center, a private school in Alhambra serving handicapped and learning-disabled students.

Under the three-stage program, teachers will be trained to identify high-risk students--those with patterns of high absenteeism, underachievement, discipline problems or substance abuse. The students and then their parents will receive counseling. Students whose behavior is not acceptable in class will be taught at home.