Resource center gets funds

District plans to offer help to students, families in need, superintendent says

Wickliffe Schools recently was awarded $250,000 from the state capital budget for a resource center.

Although officials are still ironing out the details for the resource center, Superintendent Joseph Spiccia said he aims to offer resources to students and families in need.

Director of Strategic Innovation Julie Ramos said the district would like to collaborate with area nonprofit organizations.

Some of the programs offered may include workforce and economic development; educational resources; and medical and social services.

“We will work in partnership with the services that are already very successful within Lake County, to really maximize what is working well and to partner so that we can provide services on the western side of the county to meet the needs of our community,” Ramos said.

While an exact timeline has not been set, Spiccia and Ramos are hopeful that the renovations will begin in the fall and the center will open early next year.

Spiccia said the funding will be used to renovate the former metal shop in the high school.

“It is about 6,000 square feet,” he said. “It’s a space that we’re not using. Our plan right now is to use the money that we received from the state to renovate that space into the family resource center. From a purely logistical perspective, that space that was formerly the shop will become the center.”

Spiccia has been meeting with community partners to develop a plan.

There are a lot of interested agencies, he said.

“What is really exciting about the family resource center is that we are being proactive and really meeting the needs of people, so that we can make sure they are successful instead of reacting to areas where there may be some deficits or interventions needed,” Ramos said.

“With the resource center, we can do this early on to create a pathway for people to achieve their greatest potential.”

While an exact timeline has not been set, Spiccia and Ramos are hopeful that the renovations will begin in the fall and the center will open early next year.