by David Hein
The negative trends in anxiety, depression and other mental health problems among young people in recent years are worrying. Since children spend much of the day in school, districts are in a unique position to identify issues and offer services that promote wellness and mental health.
While the mission of public schools will always be focused on students’ academic achievement and life skills, mental health challenges present a crippling impediment to student success.
Therefore, to achieve our core mission, public schools find that we must focus on the whole student in the hope that our children will thrive and not just survive their educational experience.
Before the pandemic, the US Surgeon General shared that “between 2009 and 2019, the proportion of high school students who reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40%, to more than 1 in 3 students” .
While this statistic is alarming enough, the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the decline in mental health among students. In the 2022 Pennsylvania School Boards Association State of Education Reportthat examined the impact of the pandemic on public education, nearly 86 percent of districts identified addressing mental health issues as one of their biggest educational challenges.
Although the pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems among Pennsylvania’s youth, it has also spurred the provision of additional federal funding to facilitate mental health services and supports.
Through federal pandemic relief funds, districts received one-time emergency money to address their needs. A large number of districts, about 87 percent, reported using these funds to address mental health, but these funds will dry up in the near future, leaving schools and students without the resources to continue providing these much-needed supports. and successful.
However, in the recently passed state budget, the General Assembly rightfully recognized the significant needs of students in this area and gave schools $200 million in state funding to address student mental health and school safety.
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Of this $200 million, $95 million will be distributed to districts through a new School Mental Health Grants program, which the PSBA, in partnership with Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Allegheny, fought hard to include in this state’s budget. year.
Districts applying for these grants will receive a base of $100,000, with an additional amount allocated based on student enrollment, and other school entities, such as career and technical centers and intermediate units, will receive $70,000. Grant funds can be used for a variety of purposes to meet the unique needs of each school community.
Here in the Parkland School District in Lehigh County, school-wide social-emotional programs are delivered at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.
Learning social-emotional skills can improve students’ emotional well-being. Parkland Elementary Schools teach students social emotional skills through the MindUP program. MindUP teaches skills like mindfulness, which help students deal with stress. Parkland Middle Schools uses the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program to teach skills such as identifying feelings, empathy, and creating a positive school community.
Parkland High School uses Character Counts to teach self-awareness, social awareness, and responsible decision-making. In grades 7 and 9, school counselors present the More Than Sad Program to help students recognize the signs of depression and how to get help.
Every school in Parkland has at least one certified school counselor who provides services such as brief counseling sessions, risk assessment, and consultation with school staff and community mental health professionals to support the emotional well-being of students. Certified school psychologists at Parkland provide consultation and evaluation services for students experiencing significant emotional difficulties.
All Parkland schools have a Student Assistance Program (SAP) team. This team helps parents obtain community-based mental health services when their child is experiencing emotional difficulties. As part of the SAP team at Parkland High School, a school counselor leads groups to teach skills such as conflict resolution, mindfulness, managing test anxiety, and managing trauma.
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Parkland middle and high schools have St. Luke’s YESS (Your Emotional Strength Support) program. Through the YESS program, middle and high school students with emotional difficulties can receive psychotherapy in the school setting from a master’s therapist. When indicated, the YESS therapist may refer students to psychiatric services in the St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Parkland School District appreciates the additional funding to support student mental health and appreciates that the Legislature and Governor have worked together to provide these much-needed resources.
As a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s School Safety and Security Committee, chairman of the Parkland School District board, and 2022 chair of the Pennsylvania Association of School Boards, I believe public schools want to make sure that every student receives a world-class education. education that academically prepares our students to succeed as productive citizens.
The mental health of our students can act as a hindrance or a benefit to their future success. That is why the current focus on mental health is not only a response to the current crisis we find ourselves in, but is also critical to the development of successful students. I am sure that this need will not go away any time soon.
David Hein is the president of the school board for the Parkland School District in Lehigh County; the 2022 president of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and. Security Committee and School Delinquency Surveillance.