WESTCLIFFE, CO — After hearing passionate pleas from community members Monday, the Custer County School Board voted unanimously to accept a $500,000 life-skills grant that will address suicide, substance abuse and violence prevention for students here.

The Custer County School Board initially declined to accept the grant last week after a motion to approve the grant failed for lack of a second. About 50 community members attended a special meeting Monday with many urging the board to accept the grant before the July 1 deadline.

“We had an excellent amount of community support and many eloquent speakers advocating for our school and our kids,” said Joe Vergilio, Custer County Consolidated School principal. “It was an outpouring of great kindness from the community.”

Vergilio said one woman’s story nearly moved him to tears.

The $500,000 Botvin LifeSkills Training grant is funded by federal dollars which are administered by the state at a rate of $100,000 a year for five years. Custer County School District administrators, in partnership with the Custer County Public Health Department, proposed to use the grant to fund one full-time teacher and two part-time administrators.

The school board initially had expressed displeasure with school officials for not giving them warning about the grant during the budgeting process and not knowing the full extent of the Custer County Public Health agency’s involvement in administering the grant.

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