Agenda - 06-07-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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9 1 their social and emotional needs. She said they continue to do additional assessments in the 2 social and emotional engagement, and these determine strengths and opportunities as the 3 district continues to implement SEL. She said that another assessment that has launched is the 4 two solutions in one assessment tool (behavioral threat assessment tool). She said this looks at 5 suicide risk assessment and the behavioral threat assessment. She said both are proven 6 methods to help prevent acts of violence in the schools. She said that it provides the 7 administrators the tools they need to monitor interventions and progress. She said they are 8 currently providing training for all staff related to mental health and safety. She said that this 9 year they launched and innovative learning and training platform designed specifically for their 10 school staff. She said it is web based and self-paced. She said these courses are offered by 11 experts in their fields and complies with the state training requirements. She said that staff has 12 access to the training, and it provides a library of resources. She said that additional training 13 has been provided to address ongoing trends of suicide in teens. She said that in the future they 14 are looking at potentially doing a summer vaccine clinic for middle school and high schoolers. 15 She said that in response to the opioid crisis, they are implementing Narcan training and 16 supplies to all secondary school nurses. She said that they are in the midst of filling the nurse 17 positions for middle and elementary schools and working on an RFP for mental health 18 professionals. She said that May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the theme is 19 awareness, moving forward to acceptance. She said that awareness is not enough, and that the 20 community must take responsibility for all mental health and share resources without 21 judgement. She said that the school support and wellness provides mental health resources for 22 students, staff, and community. 23 Bonnie Hauser said she appreciates the inclusion of mental health in this discussion. 24 She said it has been a tough couple of years and they appreciate the ongoing collaboration with 25 the county. She said relationships are essential to students' success in school. She said that is 26 especially important post-COVID. She said it is challenging to build these relationships when 27 there is a shortage of school staff, after two years of remote learning, distancing requirements, 28 and extensive absences. She said teachers are exhausted from the two years of remote and 29 hybrid learning and are now facing issues being back in person like absenteeism and behavior 30 on top of learning recovery. She said that students are re-learning how to deal with structured 31 routine and a rigorous school day. She said that she is not sure any school district was 32 prepared for the behavioral challenges that would be faced. She said there are many 33 behavioral challenges every day that come from children simply learning how to sit in a seat, 34 show up on time, and participate in class. She said they are daily challenges and that they need 35 help. She said OCS has asked for funds in the budget to increase salaries for certified and 36 classified staff. She said they need to stabilize staff in the schools for the children. She said it 37 will take every employee, not just teachers, to stabilize the social support structure for the 38 students. She said they have worked with Renaissance to provide mental health services, but 39 they are understaffed and overworked. She said they would like to explore working more closely 40 with Orange County Social Services to provide support to students. She said that in North 41 Carolina the ratio of students to social workers is half of the national average. 42 Carrie Doyle said a few of them just came from the My Voice, My Lens exhibit and that 43 the artist involved with that was also working directly with one of the students at Orange County 44 High School. She said this is an example of the ability to foster belonging and inclusion for all 45 their students. She said there have been qualitative and collaborative efforts between the 46 districts to foster mental health. She said there are mental health clubs at all the high schools 47 now. She said some of the soft/cultural things are being done to support mental health and 48 sense of belonging. She said that the Say Something anonymous reporting app has been vital 49 to reporting instances where there is a safety threat. She said some of the schools are very 50 consistent in their approach to behavior management, for example, the PBIS training used by 51 Grady Brown. She said that she was visiting a classroom there and the kids were signaling with