The Wake County Public School System will expand mental health services on campuses next school year, via a $14.1 million federal grant.
The grant will fund 27 therapists and crisis response staff and add a social worker to process referrals for services. The district hasn't identified which schools will have the therapists, but 94 schools already have contracted services for mental health on campus.
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The school system is looking to expand its mental health services as concerns about the well-being and behavior of young people rise. Nationally and in North Carolina, reports of depression and anxiety have risen in young people for nearly two decades. Statewide, discipline rates have gone back up after years of decline before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The grant, via the U.S. Department of Education, is for five years, starting July 1. At the same time, uncertainties about the future of the federal education department left some board members feeling uneasy about whether the program would last all five years and whether people would apply for the jobs, knowing where the funding was coming from.
President Donald Trump has vowed to close the U.S. Department of Education, though that would need Congressional approval. The potential impact of the department's closure on educational programs is uncertain.
Board Chairman Chris Heagarty said the grant "sounds like a really great program" but wondered how the system would be able to proceed.
"I am concerned about implementation and timing," he said.
The district doesn't have a guarantee that the program won't be touched, said Michael Pesce, district director of counseling and student services.
"My hope is that in the next month or two or three we'll have somewhat of an understanding of what the ground will look like going forward," he said, "but once we have the award we have to move forward."
The grant will supplement contracting services the district already has for on-campus services in 94 schools. The difference between the grant program and those other programs is that the 27 therapists and crisis responders will be employed by the school system, rather than by a contractor.
Parent permission is required for the services.
The district hopes the grant will help with some other issues the district is having with student behavior and response.
The district reported a significant rise in the number of students who are secluded and a smaller increase in the number of incidents of restraint of students from July to December, from the same period the year before.
School officials secluded students 197 times from July 2024 through December 2024, up from 53 times from July 2023 through December 2023. That's under the federal reporting requirements, which are stricter than state reporting requirements. School officials physically restrained students 623 times from July 2024 through December 2024, up from 524 times from July 2023 through December 2023.
The district is required to report numbers to the board every six months, under a settlement with the family of a student who sued the school over the child's repeated removal from the classroom.