The increasing calls to open schools in Clark County School District, the nation’s fifth-largest district, reference the deteriorating mental wellness of students. Some stakeholders, however, argue that the heightened emphasis on the mental wellness of students at this particular time is nothing more than a political tactic, especially given that historical data reveals that suicides among youth (ages 0-17) in Clark County and Nevada were higher in pre-pandemic years.

While it may be impossible to mediate this debate, I offer two observations: First, greater attention to the health and wellness of students in Clark County School District (and Nevada) leading hopefully, to a long-term strategy, is welcome — and should remain a priority even after schools fully re-open. Second, the pandemic – and the way in which it has turned our systems upside down and challenged the way we operate – provides an unfortunate but unique opportunity to revisit and evaluate the way we support our students.

During the State of the Schools address last Friday, Clark County School District (CCSD) Superintendent Jesus Jara stated, “2020 forced all of us to roll up our sleeves and think differently about how we are to provide a public education. […] Our number priority is the health and wellness of our adults and our children.”

Even before the pandemic, however, one could reasonably argue (as some have) that there were significant gaps in adequately addressing the mental wellness of students. Even with the year-over-year increase during the pandemic, suicides among young people in Nevada were as high or higher in 2016 and 2018. In 2021, Nevada ranked 51^st when assessing the (higher) prevalence of mental illness among youth and (lower) rates of access to care. Among young adults diagnosed with depression, 71 percent did not receive treatment or help they needed. A 2019 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that almost 18 percent of youth in Clark County said they seriously considered a suicide attempt in the past 12 months. Alarmingly, almost 43 percent of our American Indian/Native American youth had considered attempting suicide! While the Clark County School District, in close collaboration with Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention and others, has taken certain steps – such as the Mental Health Project and its Mental Health Transition Team (launched in 2014) and the Handle with Care initiative, the pandemic provides an opportunity to review and assess the current support systems in place.

One thing we know to be true is that CCSD does not meet national recommendations regarding mental health professionals in its schools. The National Association of School Psychologists recommends one counselor for every 250 students; one school psychologist for every 500-700 students; and one social worker for every 400 students. As we celebrate National School Counseling Week, we note that CCSD had fewer than 700 counselors and 100 social workers in 2019. To meet the national standards, CCSD would need an additional 500 school counselors and almost 700 social workers. As a point of comparison, last year, Chicago Public Schools (whose enrollment is about 25,000 higher than CCSD’s) had just over 500 budgeted social worker positions.

Unfortunately, many of the social worker positions in our state’s school districts are grant-funded – through categorical programs (e.g., Victory, Zoom, Safe and Respectful Learning Social Worker Grants, etc.) established in 2015 by then Gov. Brian Sandoval and approved by the Legislature. As a point of comparison, in 2015, prior to the launch of these categorical programs which allowed principals to hire mental health professionals, CCSD had only 25 school social workers.

The state’s 2019-21 biennium budget allocated $22.3 million to place social workers in schools. However, Gov. Sisolak’s proposed 2021-23 biennium budget moves these funds (as well as Victory and Zoom funds) to the State Education Fund. Upon implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Formula, building principals and administrators will decide how to use their education monies – and they may or may not employ mental health professionals.

As one author noted, “the gift of a crisis is that it reveals to us what really matters.” The pandemic has vividly exposed the glaring reality that, in addition to food and access to technology, “[a] focus on social and emotional wellbeing” is “critical.” In the State of the Schools address, Superintendent Jara – after affirming that his number one priority was the wellness of adults and students – asked, “What do we need to do differently? Come up with different ideas? How do we find ways to help and change what we’re doing?”

When our students return to classrooms, we need an effective plan that addresses students’ academic recovery as well as their mental health. Currently, CCSD officials have highlighted their investment in a $761,000 mental health program that has been rolled out in 12 middle schools. Beyond that, do our district leaders have an informed understanding of what is currently working (or not working)? What are our district leaders going to do differently when our students are back? Will CCSD commit to permanently fund existing mental health professional positions and increase the number (to meet national standards)? Will CCSD use any new pandemic relief funds to hire additional mental health professionals? And, most importantly, do we actually have a competent and thorough assessment of the nature and extent of the academic and mental health challenges our students face?

As the Clark County School District considers a plan for addressing the mental wellness of its students, here are some recommendations.

1.       Conduct an annual mental health needs assessment, develop mental health metrics, and evaluate current mental health programming. CCSD should conduct an annual mental health needs assessment of its students, identifying gaps in outreach and access to services, especially among our more vulnerable populations (e.g., Native American students). Several school leadership teams reported that their school-specific systems of identifying students with mental health issues and connecting them with services were working well prior to the pandemic. But they are currently struggling to move these support systems to a virtual environment.

2.       Place at least two social workers in every school for every school police officer. CCSD’s staffing and budget should reflect the district’s priority, which Jara stated was the “health and wellness of our adults and students.” In CCSD, there are more police officers than social workers; in at least one Title I high school, there are more police officers than social workers. In 2019, CCSD had over 170 school police officers and only 100 social workers. In 2018-2019, the CCSD police budget was $18.4 million; the CCSD police budget (which grew 9 percent over the period 2010-2019) has outpaced enrollment growth (4 percent during the same period).

Here I note that the COVID-19 pandemic and the question of how best to support the emotional well-being of students during this time (of distance learning) have prompted some school districts to revisit their programs and their budgets. In particular, the pandemic, the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer last May, and the subsequent demonstrations protesting police brutality that swept across the nation prompted several school districts – large and small – to revisit their use of school police or resource officers and their budgets. Among these are: Minneapolis Public Schools, Maine’s Portland Public Schools, Oregon’s Portland Public Schools, Denver Public Schools, Columbus City Schools, Oakland Unified School District, and Seattle Public Schools. Chicago Public Schools and Los Angeles Unified School District cut their school police budgets by 50 and 35 percent, respectively. Other states are considering similar measures.

In several instances, school officials and advocates – including students, families, teachers, and community leaders – calling for the elimination of school police directly linked the action to the need to redirect greater resources to mental health services, counselors, nurses, and restorative justice programs. In Denver, one principal noted, “When we employ police in our schools over mental health counselors, over nurses, and over arts education we are saying as a district that’s where our values lie.” Oakland Unified board member Roseann Torres stated, “We […] can put more focus on safety with advance action around more counselors, restorative justice training of staff and other resources students need.”

3.       Permanently fund social workers. If nothing else, the pandemic has revealed the extent to which our schools serve as a lifeline for many of Nevada’s families to critical services – including food, technology, and even mental health. Research finds that “students are 21 times more likely to visit school-based health centers for treatment than anywhere else. Schools that employ more school-based mental health providers see improved attendance rates, lower rates of suspension and other disciplinary incidents, expulsion, improved academic achievement and career preparation, and improved graduation rates.”

As stated, many of the mental health professionals in CCSD (and other school districts) are grant funded through state categorical programs. Middle and high school leadership teams emphasize the critical importance of these positions at their sites and indicate that they need more mental health professionals to effectively address the needs of their students. For example, one urban high school with more than 3,000 students has only one social worker, which is significantly lower than the recommended ratio of one social worker for every 250 students. CCSD should allocate funds to make all mental health professional positions permanent.

4.       Enhance training for school police particularly in trauma-informed care. In addition to our educators and mental health professionals, CCSD school police officers are often on the front lines responding to mental health emergencies. While school police officers are Nevada POST-certified and sworn officers, some school leaders commented that school police officers would benefit from additional training in trauma-informed care and crisis intervention. Some community leaders have suggested that CCSD school police should be required to visit campus wearing “street clothes rather than a police uniform” – a policy that other districts have adopted or are considering. Our leaders must consider policies that support school police officers being regarded by students and families as supporters of student well-being and not just “rule enforcers.”

In the public education system, many of our policies and procedures are set up to address the needs of adults. As a community, we must use the tragedy of this pandemic to focus our collective energy on reimagining how we deliver public education and how we best support the health and wellness of students. Our young people are counting on our leaders to make bold decisions to create and sustain a healthy, supportive environment that allows them to realize their full potential as valuable members of our community. 

Nancy Brune, Ph.D. is the founding executive director of the Guinn Center, a statewide, independent, nonpartisan policy research center. She is a senior fellow at the Boyd School of Law and serves on the Law and Leadership Program Advisory Council. Dr. Brune received her Ph.D. from Yale University and her Master of Public Policy and B.A. degrees from Harvard University. Prior to joining the Guinn Center, she was a senior policy analyst at Sandia National Laboratories, where she worked on issues of national security. You can follow her on Twitter @NancyBrune or email her at [email protected].