Goal 4: Progress Updates

Report 3: June 12, 2023 (Final Year 1 Report)

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.

Report 2: March 6, 2023 

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.

Report 1: November 28, 2022 

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.

Report 2: June 10, 2024 (Final Year 2 Report)

The Strategy 4 Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee met a total of five times this past year, with the last committee meeting on April 9, 2024. Additional meetings were completed outside of the scheduled committee meeting times with EC-12 Academic Achievement and Student and Staff Support for Special Services Strategic Plan Committees. The final two meetings centered on several goal areas: Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curricula, expansion recommendations for the Panther Learning Center, staff training for prevention and intervention, and reviewing the goal for the upcoming year.

The first goal for this committee, due by June 2024, was that a district curriculum committee would recommend any changes to SEL curricula. The curriculum selection process was led by the Curriculum Department through a committee structure to support education, evaluation, collaboration, and recommendations for a SEL curriculum to best meet the diverse needs of Derby students. A variety of stakeholders in the district and community make up the committee to work through the curriculum selection process. Multiple members from the Student and Staff Mental Health Wellness Supports committee participated as committee members and were involved in this entire process, including the final piloting of the curriculum.

The overall committee contributed to feedback and discussion as Dr. Holly Putnam Jackson met with the committee several times through the course of the year to share the curriculum selection process, the components of the committee work, updates, and the curricula that were selected for piloting with Derby school students. The committee members were involved and reached a consensus and supported the recommendation by Dr. Putnam-Jackson on the curriculum recommendation for Character Strong K-12 and Leader in Me as course offerings for Derby High School (DHS) students. This recommendation was accepted and approved by the Board of Education on April 6, 2024; therefore, this goal was met and completed.

The second goal for this committee, due by June 2024 was that the district curriculum committee would present recommendations for expanding in-person and online learning options for the Panther Learning Center. The district curriculum committee process was led by the Curriculum Department through a committee structure to support education, evaluation, collaboration, and recommendations for the expansion of the Panther Learning Center in person and online learning options. In addition to the Strategic Planning Committee input, participation, and feedback, information was collected and reviewed by Panther Learning Center staff, DHS data evaluation, and virtual staff meetings. Several members from the Student and Staff Mental Health Wellness Supports committee participated as committee members and were involved in this entire process.

One key component that impacted the direction and needs of services became increasingly evident during the year because of the newly implemented Discipline Point Matrix at DHS. Students who faced long-term suspension/expulsion were offered an opportunity to continue their education via the virtual school. This has resulted in a significant increase in the number of students who opted to utilize this alternative option to continue their education. Another significant factor that emerged this past year included students who were hospitalized long-term for health conditions (mental and medical) and needed the option to flex into the virtual model while unable to attend school and then participate in a blended model before returning to school on a full-time basis. As the committee met with Dr. Putnam Jackson, recommendations were made to increase student participation and allow for flexibility to meet students’ educational needs.

The Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports Strategic Plan Committee and Panther Learning Center staff support the following recommendation for increasing student support services through the restructuring of the Derby Public Schools E-Academy Model. This model includes the Panther Learning Center continuing to support 50-60 students at a time through a non-traditional education approach with an individualized student program plan, with increased supervision and support to address student needs. The Derby E-Academy-Hybrid Model would allow increased flexibility for students to complete work online, independently at home, and attend classes part-time on campus for some electives, tutoring, online support, and support through Individual Plans of Study (IPS). Students who are fully enrolled as virtual students will complete all coursework online at home with an E-Academy Teacher who will conduct an online Zoom check-in with students twice a month, in addition to having other tutorial support available as needed. All students will be eligible to participate in sports and activities as outlined in KSHSAA. This recommendation is scheduled for implementation during the upcoming 2024-2025 school year. This program will be in the Panther Learning Center. This goal is met and completed.

Another area of focus emerged with the opportunity to collaborate with the Strategic Plan committee Student and Staff Support for Special Services as crisis intervention programs for staff training. A recommendation was submitted and approved by the Board of Education for the restructuring of Managing Aggressive Behavior (MAB) for approximately 295 Derby staff that have been identified in the “Critical Response” Team as these individuals are more likely to encounter and assist with escalated behavioral situations. Restructuring efforts include an increase of MAB trainers, creation of a MAB Dashboard to assist with district level organization and management, creation of training cycles for all staff, and scheduling of training. This area of committee effort contributes to evaluating and making improvements to social-emotional health curriculum that align with best practices, referral pathways,
and professional development to staff.

For the upcoming school year, the committee has requested that language be modified in the goal. The upcoming goal currently reads, “By June 2025, an annual Mental Health Committee data report will be given to the Board. The report will include data on discipline referrals, percentage of students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 on the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) screener, and number of students that participated in a risk assessment, staff opportunities for and participation in wellness activities, student, and staff absenteeism.” The committee members agreed to restate this goal with consistent language and positivity for the endeavors that are taking place in the district to improve overall mental health and wellness supports.

Report 2: February 12, 2024

The Strategy 4 Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee has met this year three times so far this year, with the last committee meeting on November 14, 2023. The fourth meeting was scheduled for January 9, 2024; however, the meeting was canceled due to inclement weather and the agenda was moved to the February 6, 2024 meeting. Committee goals and accountability measures for year two are reviewed prior to each committee meeting to guide efforts towards the goals established for the year.

The focus of the November meeting was on the Panther Learning Center (PLC). The committee learned that the program originated out of the 2017-2022 Strategic Plan through the subcommittee of Academic Achievement. The committee recommended that an alternative program/school be established to provide increased support for students who were at risk. Support services that were recommended were credit recovery, credit/diploma acceleration, modified programming to address student needs, college and career guidance, referrals for community-based services and programs through an individualized format. The process for recommendations and timeline were shared. Several PLC students participated in a student panel in which they shared their needs and how the PLC supported them in getting back on track and engaging in their high school education. Students and PLC staff answered questions about the program regarding strengths of the program as well as needs. The committee is currently working on building out the foundation of the program, and making recommendations for the next phase of development for expanding in person and online learning options in this program. The committee will continue to examine suggestions made through the committee and advisory committees regarding the development of recommendations.

The second area of focus has been on collaborating and working with the EC-12+ Academic Achievement Committee and the Curriculum Department regarding the evaluation and selection of social-emotional curricula to recommend any changes to the social-emotional learning curricula. Several members of the committee have participated in the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum process which has involved multiple meetings per month to learn about standards, examine student and staff needs, view presentations from various curriculum representatives, and evaluate curriculum in a meaningful process to assist with meeting student needs in the district. Committee members have been vital partners in this entire process, including the selection and piloting of selected curriculum and continue to be involved in this process to support a recommendation for district wide SEL curriculum.

A third area of focus emerged with the opportunity to collaborate with the Strategic Plan committee Student and Staff Support for Special Services as crisis intervention programs for staff training are being reviewed. This lends support to evaluating and making improvements to social emotional health curriculum that align with best practices, referral pathways and provide professional development to staff. In January, several committee members joined this committee to learn about four different programs that focused on crisis prevention and intervention.

The next step for the Strategy 4 committee is to continue to collaborate and make recommendations through the SEL curriculum selection process and crisis prevention-intervention curriculum for staff training. The committee will also follow up with reviewing recommendations for the expansion of the Panther Learning Center through discussion and determine further tasks to address suggestions to address the goal of expanding in person and online learning options for the Panther Learning Center.

Report 1: November 27, 2023

The Strategy 4: Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee has met this year on August 29, 2023 and October 3, 2023, with the next scheduled meeting scheduled on November 14, 2023. During the first meeting the committee established committee protocols (norms) and reviewed the efforts of the committee from year one. The goals and accountability measures for year two were reviewed for the upcoming year. Dr. Holly Putnam-Jackson provided the committee with information about the district curriculum selection process, along with timelines for curriculum selection, evaluation, review, and recommendations. The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum process will include multiple reviews during the process with the inclusion of internal, public, and educator reviews prior to presentation to the Board of Education. The curriculum selection committee will consist of members representing all grade levels, instructional areas, and positions, including parents. Committee members were encouraged to reach out and ask questions as needed during the process.

During the second meeting in October, committee members reviewed documents regarding the measurement of social emotional character development. Due to the diverse membership of this committee, commonly used vocabulary, definitions, and acronyms were reviewed with all committee members. The committee participated in an activity by separating into teams of four members and each team worked on defining what a successful Derby High School student/graduate should look like to each group. Each committee shared desired traits and skills that they believed a graduate should possess. Discussion and connection to social emotional learning and how these could tie into a new curriculum was shared. Several committee members shared information regarding the Social Emotional Learning Curriculum committee meetings.

The next step for the strategy 4 committee is to learn about the Panther Learning Center (PLC). The presentation will provide history, goals, and demonstrate how it is supporting students with removing and mitigating barriers that prevent students from having success in traditional high school programs. The presentation will also provide information to answer key questions that were shared at the last committee meeting. The committee will follow up with discussion and determine further tasks to address suggestions to address the goal of expanding in person and online learning options for the Panther Learning Center.

Report 3: June 9, 2025

The Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee has met six times this school year on September 10, October 15, November 26, January 14, February 25 and April 8, 2025. The committee has maintained focus on the primary goal for Year 3 by addressing components needed to create an annual Mental Health Committee data report given to the Board of Education that is inclusive of student data on discipline referrals, the percentage of students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 on the Social-Emotional
Learning (SEL) screener which is Character Strong, the number of students that have participated in a risk assessment whether it is internalized or externalized behavior, staff opportunities for and participation in wellness activities, and student and staff absenteeism.

Throughout the year, at the beginning of each committee meeting the belief statement, goal and accountability measures are reviewed. Team protocols established to guide the committee's work are reviewed before each meeting. Another feature of each committee meeting is the educational moment that focuses on establishing common ground through learning together. Due to the diverse backgrounds of committee members, it is important to encourage learning and understanding of a variety of components supporting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Social Emotional Growth (SEG).

The educational moments for the remainder of the year focused on the new curriculum from Character Strong, detailing information on the SERVE Model that staff are encouraged to incorporate into their daily routines with students. In February, the committee focused on the discussion following the Character Strong video, “This is Not My Priority”, which challenges individual mindsets and prioritizing time to do what is important. In April, the educational moment focused on improving student engagement through safer school environments and the benefits of behavioral threat assessments.

During the Board of Education mid-year update, the committee shared concerns regarding the committee’s ability to meet the criteria for meeting its annual goal based upon the timelines in which district data would be completed and authenticated for the school year. Data collection dates range in several areas, but a sizable portion of the data is not finalized until the end of school year, which would prevent reporting to the board in early June. The board modified the date for the first mental health
report presented to be by Fall of 2026. This will allow the committee to finalize the data collection and establish the processes for collecting and aggregating information.

Through the deconstructing of the goal, the committee has recommended following data collection
sources for the areas to be reported:

• Discipline Referrals - Documented in Skyward and End of Year Reports to KSDE. Data finalized by June 30th.
• Student Tier Levels - Documented in Character Strong, through Student Screener and Panorama Education program.
• Students that Participated in a Risk Screener - The product to be utilized is to be determined as the externalized tool will be determined by Matt Liston and his team and the recommended internalized screener is the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, which is what the majority of social workers and counselors have been using. Continued work is needed to see if it can be embedded with the externalized screening tool for data collection. Continued committee work is needed to develop the processes for data collection, building and district implications, while protecting student confidentiality.
• Student Absenteeism data will be collected via Skyward attendance records finalized by June 30 each year.
• Staff Absenteeism - Continued work with Human Resources regarding what data needs to be reported and how. Information will be collected through Frontline and Skyward and finalized by June 30 each year.
• Participation and Opportunities for Staff Wellness - Information will be collected through the Health and Wellness Committee under the supervision of Human Resources withinformation finalized by October.

By modifying the timeline of this goal, the committee will be able to report in the fall regarding the previous year's data to accomplish this goal. Areas of refinement in the internalized and externalized screener, processes and staff training will be the focus for the upcoming year. Continued discussions with Human Resources will clarify the information provided for the report.

It was important to this committee that data was aggregated by the school year, with a consistent data source. The schedule is important to guide processes and insure accountability of the goal request. Data should not require in depth collection, analyzation and conclusions, but rooted in our student and district collection methods used for state and federal reporting and accreditation for the district. It is also important that all buildings comply with recording information for an accurate report.

This committee has served with dedication, passion and integrity to best represent diverse perspectives into the recommendations for data collection and the representation of the mental health and wellness of students and staff in Derby Public Schools. This committee looks forward to finalizing the areas of need as described in this report to further the year end goals.

Report 2: February 10, 2025

The Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee has met four times so far this year on September 10, October 15, November 26, 2024, and January 7, 2025. The committee will meet at least two more times before we wrap up the goals for 2024-2025. The committee continues to focus on the primary goal of this committee for Year 3 with creating an annual Mental Health Committee data report to be given to the board that will include data on discipline referrals, percentage of students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 on the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) screener, and number of students that participated in the a risk assessment, staff opportunities for and participation in wellness activities, student and staff absenteeism.

At the beginning of each committee meeting the belief statement, goal and accountability measures are reviewed. Team protocols that were established to guide the work of the committee are reviewed prior to each meeting. The committee selected the following: Trust and contribute to the process, be respectful to everyone’s time, stay positive, be respectful, and be kind. Additional values are agreed with kindness, be a polite listener and speaker, and create a safe place. This is important as diverse perspectives must be expressed and valued.

An educational moment is shared at the beginning of each committee meeting to encourage learning and understanding of a variety of components supporting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and Social Emotional Growth (SEG). During the third committee meeting in November, the committee participated in an activity,
“How do you know”? Examples of student written expression on paper and a drawing were examined, discussed, and outside of context could be examples of internalized and externalized behaviors that could be potentially harmful to the student or others. Upon evaluation and investigation, the words were lyrics to a song that a student was listening to, and the picture was a student drawing a picture of his family snorkeling. Following the discussion in October, administrators and social workers do not have a district screening tool to initiate the investigation of encounters such as this. This educational moment demonstrated situations that are common in our schools today.

The committee started deconstructing the annual goal based upon the areas established in the goal were discipline referrals, percentage of students in tiers two and three based upon the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener, students participating in risk assessments, participation in wellness activities, and student and staff absences. Considerable discussion, follow up and discussion focused on this process. Some critical points that were determined via the committee included:

• Data needs to be consistent in data source and collection to guide processes and accountability.
• Data should not require in depth collection, analyzation, and conclusions, but rooted in our student and district collection methods used for state and federal reporting and accreditation for the district.
• Seek to strengthen and improve areas in need of additional tools, resources, or procedures to improve student and staff outcomes.

Deconstruction of the goal continued from November into January. Student discipline data should be consistent and collected through Skyward following typical processes set forth for annual reporting. The concern for reporting in May is that this data is not collected and finalized until June. As the committee examined other areas, timelines are not in sync with the annual reporting of data to the Board of Education unless it is one year in arrears, or the report deadline is changed. Another example was the district report for participation in the Wellness Committee which was completed in October. New information will not be available until October 2025. This is an area that will require more discussion before a recommendation can be made.

The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener that will measure SEG will be through Character Strong, which is the newly implemented SEL curriculum. This measure will be consistent in collection districtwide, but again, data will not be readily available until June 2025 for the school year. The area that continues to garner significant focus is that the district needs a districtwide risk assessment that is inclusive of internalized and externalized behaviors and structures for consistent reporting. The new Panorama Education program is a vital tool in the collection of data, which will allow for evaluating trends and outcomes in many areas but is not inclusive of highly confidential student data such as this.

During the month of January, considerable discussion emerged following the data regarding the low participation of staff wellness, which was reported as 20% in October 2024. District staff expressed concerns about workload, “extra” work, and expectations that are expressed with intensity such as addressing student performance outcomes with students received from open school boundaries, struggling students, and absenteeism. It was noted that while the district tried to remove some items off the plate, the new state mandate for LETRS training increased the workload significantly with time away from the classroom, creating substitute plans, and homework for the training, in addition to often reteaching information from being out of the classroom. While many new initiatives are good, the time and stress are being felt by staff.

Lastly, it was determined that student and staff absenteeism can be collected, but once again, this information is not typically collected and analyzed until June. There were expressed concerns regarding how to track the absences of staff regarding earned time off and designated family, emergency, and medical leaves. Further discussion is needed to establish a recommendation for consistent reporting of information. This committee continues to have strong diverse attendance with different perspectives.

Continued focus with overall goals, learning, and discussion will continue to further this committee towards its year end goals.

Report 1: November 25, 2024

Strategy 4, Student and Staff Mental Health & Wellness Supports committee has met two times so far this year on September 10 and October 29, 2024. Membership of this committee consists of 46 individuals, including students, parents, classified and certified staff, BOE members, and community stakeholders. In addition to the dates listed above, this committee is scheduled to meet four additional times to complete the tasks to reach committee goals on November 26, 2024; January 14, 2025; February 25, 2025; and April 8, 2025. Additional dates will be added if needed. The primary goal of this committee for Year 3 is creating an annual Mental Health Committee data report to be given to the Board that will include data on discipline referrals, percentage of students in Tier 2 and Tier 3 on the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) screener, and number of students that participated in the a risk assessment, staff opportunities for and participation in wellness activities, student and staff absenteeism.

The first committee meeting included introductions, a belief statement, and accountability measures were reviewed. Team protocols were established to guide the work of the committee during the year. The committee selected the following: Trust and contribute to the process, be respectful to everyone’s time, stay positive, be respectful, and be kind. More values are: Agree with kindness, be a polite listener and speaker, and create a safe place. While the committee has a single goal this year, the committee discussed the purpose of the goal, which is to determine important data markers that will be used to demonstrate improvement in mental health and wellbeing. Guiding questions for the discussion included why the data was needed, what needs to be in place to collect data, what is missing or needed to collect the data, and how will the plan be created to meet the goal.

During the second committee meeting in October, team protocols were shared and the Educational Moment focused on a video clip, KINDNESS as shared through the newly implemented SEL curriculum, Character Strong. The committee briefly discussed the video clip and district staff shared insight of the curriculum implementation so far this year. The committee will collect and report out the data. A tabletop activity, Deconstructing the Goal, was the main activity for this session as the group split into groups of four to complete a graphic organizer. This was used to assist with breaking down the goal, seeking common language, determining what information is needed, and tools needed for measurement. Additional areas that emerged through discussion included risk assessments and the importance of districtwide tools, consistent protocols, and follow through. The committee will continue to examine suggestions made through meetings regarding the development of possible recommendations.