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Goal 4: Progress Updates

Goal 4

June 12, 2023 • Strategy 4 Final Year 1 Update

The Strategy 4 committee met a total of five times during the school year, with the final meeting being on April 11, 2023. The mental health committee has completed committee tasks through dividing into three smaller committees to address year one goals.

  • The Staffing Ratios Sub Committee has been focused on collecting and reviewing data from the Derby Public School district, area school districts, similar-sized districts, with the inclusion of state and national recommendations for school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists. Key findings determined that Derby Public Schools has 728 students per counselor, with the state of Kansas recommending a ratio of 373 students per counselor. It was determined that Derby has 404 students per social worker, with the state of Kansas recommending a ratio of 614 per social worker. Derby Public Schools has 1039 students to each school psychologist, with the state of Kansas recommending 890 students. Derby Public Schools does not currently have elementary counselors on staff, only at middle and high school which led to number of students being higher per counselor position. Derby Public Schools has a lower student to social worker ratio due to social workers being present in all buildings which led to a decreased ratio of students. The school psychologist ratio is elevated due to staff shortages in getting the position filled. This has been a critical shortage in education on local, state, and national levels.
  • The Mental Health Resources and Supports Sub Committee has compiled a comprehensive listing of over 100 community, county, state, and national resources collected and categorized into the following resource categories: Crisis, Children and Youth, Dental, Food, Medical, Mental Health and Parenting services available in the community and surrounding areas for staff and parent use. This document has been created through committee collaboration to provide a readily accessible resource to support students in need. This information will be included on the new website that is expected to be launched in July 2023.
  • The State of Mental Health Supports, Services, and Curriculum Sub Committee has met with social workers, administrators, and teachers to compile a snapshot through the lens of curriculum, education, school supports and services for students and staff in the district. The committee has aligned this information through a tiered model of mental health services and supports that includes various curricula and programs that support mental health wellness.

The Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports Committee has requested the following recommendations/suggestions:

  1. Consider a long-term plan on adding eight elementary counselors to support Tier 1 mental wellness and related student support services.

  2. Continue to seek qualified applicants to fill the school psychologist positions open in the district.

  3. Consult with legal counsel regarding the drafting of a “disclaimer” on the website for agencies that are shared on the resource website.

  4. Determine the criteria and procedures for moving forward for determining parameters in which names/agencies/businesses will be added to the district listing.

  5. Consider members from the Student & Staff Mental Health Wellness and Supports Committee to work with Curriculum and Instruction on reviewing and selecting Social Emotional Learning Curriculum for Derby students, preschool through high school.

March 6, 2023 • Strategy 4 Update

The Strategy 4 committee has 48 individuals that have met three times to focus on the goals of the Mental Health & Wellness Supports. The large group committee established that this group will work towards the final recommendations with group consensus, with three subcommittees focused on the actual tasks at hand. The Staffing Ratios subcommittee is focused on collecting data from the district, area districts, similar sized districts, with the inclusion of state and national recommendations for school counselors, social workers, and school psychologists. The Mental Health Resources and Supports subcommittee is focused on learning about local resources, mental health supports, providers, and services available in the community and surrounding areas for district and parent use. The State of Mental Health Supports, Services, and Curriculum subcommittee is working on defining the current state of mental health supports through the lens of curriculum, education, school supports and services for students and staff in the district. The committee is working on applying information and data through a tiered model of mental health services and supports that will be inclusive of curriculum, services, support services onsite, and resources. The tiered model will provide a breakdown by elementary, middle and high school levels. All of the committees are actively collecting information, creating frameworks for putting information together and sharing out as a whole group for input, questions, clarification, and communication.

November 28, 2022 • Strategy 4 Update

Strategy 4 convened for the first meeting with robust attendance as 30 individuals reviewed the Strategic Plan for 2022-2027. Following a brief overview of the six subcommittees, the committee dissected Strategy 4-Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports through reviewing the Belief Statement, Goal, Action Steps, and Accountability/Success measures. The committee split into smaller groups for discussion of the Year 1 goals of establishing a Mental Health Committee to collect, review and submit a report on the current ratios of staff who provide mental health supports in comparison to state and national staffing standards, identify potential supplemental mental health support and support providers for students and staff, create a report on current social emotional curriculum being used in the district and methods for evaluating stakeholder satisfaction in the area of mental health.