Student mental health a top priority for Alief ISD
Alief, Texas - Wednesday Alief ISD students headed back to class, but grades are not the only top priority for administrators.
"They hate me. I’m not good enough. I think I don’t want to live anymore." Counselor Denita Day sounds off a handful of disturbing thoughts that often creep into students’ minds.
According to counselors, much of the negativity can stem from increased pressure from parents and peers.
Through self-reporting and referrals, administrators at Alief ISD noticed a growing mental health problem among students that they say was made worse during the pandemic.
"Isolation time where students were not able to socialize and develop their social skills was part of it," says Dr. Alvia Baldwin, Alief ISD’s Director of Guidance and Counseling.
"We know that also, during that time domestic violence grew," she adds.
The death of a classmate also gave way to some students pleading for help.
"They were pretty clear that the response to that can’t be addressed in a couple days. It can’t be addressed in a week. We need additional support and not just support that comes to our campus periodically or is here with us for a few days and then leaves. We need that support ongoing," recalls Superintendent Dr. Anthony Mays.
In response to the feedback, the district is upgrading its temporary crisis response team to dedicated mental health counselors at select schools. These licensed professional counselors will go beyond traditional school counselors, giving therapy sessions to students on their campuses. The program will roll out at three comprehensive high schools for the 2023-2024 school year.
"Usually the teachers are going to be the first people to notice something is a little different. The kid is making some comments. The kid might be avoiding eye contact, any of those things," says Day.
A staff member or student may bring a similar concern to their school counselor who can then send a referral to the mental health specialist for the student to participate in the program.
After an initial assessment and parent permission, students may take part in 45-minute sessions every other week, focused using cognitive behavioral therapy to transform negative thought patterns into helpful ones.
The staff says sessions will be scheduled around tests and challenging classes. Counselors add that they don’t want to interfere with the path to graduation.
"We are dealing with mental health, but we also have to focus in on the academics," says Day who is one of the new campus-based mental health counselors.
After three to five sessions, if needed, a student may be referred to outside help. Some partner clinics offer free services for Alief’s vast majority of students who are economically disadvantaged and unlikely to be able to afford a private therapist. According to the district, 89% of students would be eligible for additional counseling at no cost or priced on a sliding scale, however, the demand for counseling at outside clinics could delay that referral process.
Superintendent Mays has been in his role for less than a year, but hopes the new program has a lasting effect on student actions by redirecting them from punishment to addressing the root of problem behavior.
"The mental health piece helps us to get to the root cause of whatever we’re seeing manifest in student behavior," he says.
"You can see a lot of things- students not participating in the classroom. You can see students manifest grief in anger, so rather than let us get to that point, let’s really help the students with some solutions," says Mays.