The Westbrook Economic Action Roundtable is appealing for funds to help Westbrook High School (WHS) hire a new school-to-career coordinator (STCC) by fall 2018. The roundtable, an initiative of the Shoreline Basic Needs Task Force, is stepping in because funding for the position, one that Superintendent of Schools Pat Ciccone supports, would not otherwise be available until fall 2021. A key goal of the STCC coordinator position is to help high school students explore future career paths through job-shadowing and internships.

Roundtable members Andy Schatz, Jim Crawford, and Tony Cozza explained why they want to jump-start the program that will help WHS students choose their career and education paths wisely. They said the information, collected by the person hired as the high school’s STCC, could also potentially be used by the town’s social service agencies to help find employment opportunities for ALICE (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) individuals in the town, that could help lift those people out of poverty.

One of the first tasks of the STCC would be to compile that information, creating a database of area employers in different industries and the types of jobs they have. This resource would then be used to help match WHS students to job-shadow and/or internship opportunities. As defined in the STCC job description, the school district employee would be responsible to “establish business/community partnerships for internship and job placement as well as community service opportunities” and to “promote and communicate internship and job opportunities to students based on their career interest and make information available to municipal ALICE support personnel.” And that information could be shared with other town officials, who would use it to help ALICE adults.

Ciccone told the roundtable members that, though she supports adding the post, the school district budget cannot support a new hire until Fall 2021.

Upon learning of this constraint, the roundtable members decided that they would start a fundraising campaign with a goal of having enough to pay for the first two years of salary. Ciccone said if the roundtable can do this, the school district would pay for the cost of the new STCC’s benefits for the first two years.

“We are trying to raise $120,000 to cover the [STCC’s] salary through June 30, 2020 and [pay for the] expenses for the program. We have received commitments for over $50,000 for the two-year period, but a little more than half of that is for the first year,” said Schatz.

“Addressing the issues with ALICE will require assistance from the STCC, but also work with social service coordinators and non-profits already working with town government,” wrote Schatz and other roundtable members.

In speaking of Westbrook’s particular needs, the roundtable reported a recent study by United Way that found that the town of Westbrook has the highest ALICE level population of any town in Middlesex County at 37 percent. Finding ways to match some of these ALICE individuals with jobs is a high priority for the Westbrook Economic Action Roundtable members.

Schatz said that The Community Foundation of Middlesex County (49 Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457) has agreed to create a special fund into which donations to support hiring an STCC would be deposited.

“Checks should be made payable to ‘The CFMC Westbrook Economic Action Fund.’ We have also arranged that checks will be held by CFMC (not cashed) and returned to donors if at least $60,000 is not collected,” said Schatz.

Schatz is hopeful that individuals, businesses, and the community will see the value of the STCC and want to support the roundtable’s economic action initiative.

The roundtable is also working with Ciccone and area businesses to identify other collaboration opportunities between business, ALICE support personnel, and the school district. One of these areas is in technical training. All of these efforts share the goal of supporting students while also helping ALICE individuals to secure employment locally.