Cornell School Board; Mental health a real concern coming out of pandemic
By Ginna Young
Financially and physically, things are going well with the Cornell School District. Mentally – students report they felt more anxious over the past year, than ever before, something middle/high school principal Dave Elliott says stems from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It really has affected us,” he said.
Not only did many admit in a survey that they have used electronic vaping products, but 66 percent of students have said they had significant problems feeling anxious, while at the middle school, 73 percent admit to the same thing, that they feel something “bad” is going to happen.
“I’ve never seen it this high, ever,” said Elliott.
The district is in the middle of exploring what mental health grants will be awarded to them, with an anticipated amount of money to put into programming, such as telehealth and training for staff.
“For that to take place and to do it the right way, part of the grants ask that we have someone who is a mental health navigator,” said Elliott.
A navigator, also called a director of student services and support, monitors requirements of the grants, which includes surveys, curriculum and training, and budgets.
“It’s a taxing position,” admitted Elliott. “If we get the grants, they pay for that staffing, it doesn’t cost the district any additional money.”
Superintendent Paul Schley said speech-language pathologist Austin Hiess has done an excellent job writing grants and researching implementation for the funding, which is why he would like to follow through with the grants and programming. But, Schley says if Cornell can’t find a speechlanguage pathologist to replace Hiess, he needs to stay in that position.
Elliott said his plan is to ingraine the mental health aspect into the climate of the school, instead of just running programs for a couple years.
“Hopefully, this all falls into play,” said Elliott.
With the school year wrapping up, Schley reported that maintenance projects are almost complete at the elementary and high school buildings. Board president Lyle Briggs asked how money in Fund 46 for the maintenance is lasting.
Schley says with the federal funds called ESSER, the district hasn’t even had to tap into Fund 46, but it’s there if they need it.
“We’ll see,” said Schley. “I think someday, that’ll have to be for whatever we do with the high school.”
He also said the school boilers are 25 years old and will need to be replaced sometime, which will be covered by Fund 46.
“It’s a good problem to have,” said Schley.
In the business portion of the meeting, the board approved the hire of partnership director John Humphries (who comes at no cost to the district), as well as the resignation of ag teacher Caitlin Foster, who accepted a new job with the Chippewa Falls School District.
Schleys says they are interviewing two candidates for the ag position and thought they had a music teacher for that vacant position, but after the person backed out of the job, the hunt resumes for a new music director.
