The Galveston Independent School District Board of Trustees on Wednesday voted unanimously to submit an optional per-kindergarten project proposal for a Race to the Top District grant requesting $2 million through the United States Department of Education.

“This proposal would request additional funding to enable alignment of the PreK curriculum to the Texas College Readiness Standards, emphasizing from an early age that there exist basic academic foundations that can predict a child's ability to be prepared for college and the workforce,” Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Annette Scott said. “It would also request expansion of the current full day PreK to reach all economically disadvantaged children in Galveston ISD.”

The proposal was one of several the board approved for submission through the grant.

The board voted to submit an optional student mental health services project proposal for the grant.

The proposal would allow the district and the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to restart a telemedicine for school-based mental health program it had operated from 2006 to 2011.

“Renewed funding would re-establish the service, allowing UTMB time to develop a sustainable funding source for the vital service,” Scott said. “At present, highly limited school-based teen counseling services are provided by faculty from the UTMB Department of Pediatrics.”

The board voted to submit a proposal for an option al student and family health and well being project through the Race to the Top District grant.

All items were approved. All votes were unanimous with Board Member Dr. Jeff Temple absent. Board Member Beau Rawlins arrived later in the meeting and did not vote on several of the items. Agenda