Counseling funds given to Santana, Granite Hills High

April 13, 2001

Granite Hills High School was awarded $51,700 in federal money yesterday to provide counseling for students and staff members dealing with last month's campus shooting.

Santana High School, in the Grossmont Union High School District, recently became the first school in the nation to receive a grant under a U.S. Department of Education program that provides help to schools that have faced shootings and other campus traumas. Yesterday, Grossmont Union's Granite Hills High became the second.

The program, called Project SERV, or School Emergency Response to Violence, was created from a $10 million congressional appropriation to respond to school disasters the way the Federal Emergency Management Agency responds to natural disasters.

"You don't ever want to be the first school district to get this kind of support," said Mark Pettis, spokesman for the Grossmont district. "But it is good the funds are now available."

Jason Hoffman, 18, is accused of opening fire on Granite Hills' administration building March 22, wounding two teachers and three students. Earlier that month at Santana, 15-year-old freshman Charles "Andy" Williams allegedly killed two students and wounded 13 people.

The grants to Granite Hills and Santana cover the costs of responding to the shootings for 45 days after the incidents. Most of the money will cover additional on-campus counseling, administration and added school security, said Bob McGlenn, coordinator of the recovery programs at both schools.

It will also pay for translators for Spanish-speaking families. About 10 percent of Granite Hills students are Latino.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said yesterday that Grossmont Union has "experienced too much violence and fear in the past several weeks" and pledged to continue working with the district.

The district plans to apply for more money under the program to cover therapy costs and other services for an additional 18 months at both schools, McGlenn said.

In addition to the campus services covered by the grants, staff members from the county District Attorney's Office continue to help students and their immediate families and school staff personnel obtain money for long-term counseling and other services through a state crime victims program.