What Are Local School Districts Doing to Address Student Mental Health?

(KNSI) — Central Minnesota area school districts say taking care of students’ mental health is a top priority as they prepare for the year.

St. Cloud Area School District 742 Executive Director of Student Services and Special Education Carol Potter says schools have always done their best to help students struggling with mental health, but the COVID-19 pandemic showed the enormity of the problem.

“What the pandemic showed us was that kids were hurting more than what we knew. And so coming back to school again, they were telling us something is happening. We can’t even put words around it. That’s when we really had to dig in and add more support.”

Following school reopenings last year, District 742 added 15 mental health advocates and will add 15 more this year. The district is also setting up more student support rooms. They complement District 742’s counselors and partnerships with CentraCare and Greater Minnesota Minetal Health Family Health Services, which Potter says have been in place for years.

She says district staff also watch for kids struggling with their mental health and adds that students need to know there is help for them and how to get it.

“If there is a concern, please, connect with your teacher or please connect with your principal. Please connect with the school nurse etc. And then from there, we align the support that they need.”

No insurance is needed, and there are no charges for the district’s services.

The Sartell St. Stephen School District tells KNSI there are several initiatives to help struggling students, including the Bandana Project, a national student-led mental health initiative. Students tie green bandanas to their backpacks to identify them as someone with information to assist students needing mental health help.

Before starting school, certified staff undergoes specialized training to identify mental health issues with virtual simulations.

Two grants will help pay for Youth Frontiers Retreats. ISD 478 7th graders will be involved in Courage Retreats in November, and 9th graders will be part of Respect Retreats in February. The district has also added a counselor and has a handful of other programs.

The Sauk Rapids-Rice School District has a social worker in each building, social-emotional learning teachers in all schools, and several other programs to help students struggling with mental health. ISD 47 says its best asset is its staff, who work daily with the students.

There is also the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline available for everyone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems affect them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.

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