The Dougherty County School System awarded more than $463,000 to schools who are implementing innovative classroom and learning experiences for students.

The grants were announced Wednesday during a luncheon at the Dougherty County School System Administrative building. The awards are a part of the funding from the Georgia Department of Education earmarked to the DCSS through the Charter System Program.

The funds were disbursed to schools based on a competitive application process which required schools to create innovative programs and initiatives for their school that they believe will impact student teaching and learning.

“We understand that one set of policies, one set of laws, does not perfectly fit every situation,” Superintendent Kenneth Dyer said. “And we also understand that the people who are best equipped to handle those challenges and come up with solutions to those challenges are the people in the schools. So we try and give them the flexibility to innovate.”

The winning programs ranged from the use of makerspaces to support International Baccalaureate programs at International Studies Elementary Charter School to the first-ever award to a school cluster - Dougherty High, Albany Middle, Turner Elementary and Robert Harvey Elementary - who earned $159,360 to implement a restorative justice program that looks at student discipline and training.