Schools invest in teletherapy

By Kevin O’Brien

Students in the Abbotsford and Colby school districts will soon have a new way to access mental health professionals during the school day.

School board members on Monday approved a service agreement with Uwill, a telehealth company that offers remote sessions with licensed counselors who are available while students are in school. Under the agreement, each student will be allowed up to six, 30-minute online sessions with a counselor. Fifteen-minute chat sessions and two-way messaging will also be available under a system that affords each student 180 credits to spend over a 360-day period.

Abbotsford superintendent Ryan Bargender said the district has struggled for years to find enough counselors to meet with students, so it worked with the Colby School District to contract with Uwill Systems, which provides online counseling services to students at UW-Madison and other colleges throughout the state and country.

The issue of mental health has become a particular concern for the district after the murder of two students last summer and a recent suicide.

“We have limited resources in our area,” Bargender said. “There are times when we have a student we refer, and it takes three to four months for them to get in to see someone.”

Bargender said the two districts are splitting the $22,500 contract cost, with each paying $11,250. Uwill’s normal rate is $25,000 per school, he noted.

Uwill will not completely address the mental health issues of students, Bargender said, but it will at least provide an avenue for students to get help in the meantime while they are waiting to find a longterm counselor.

Abbotsford Elementary principal Abbey Frischmann said she’s particularly interested in the ability of students to schedule sameday appointments through Uwill, which should be a big help for families whose kids are on waitlists for five to six months.

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Bargender said Uwill has six different therapists for students to choose from, including ones that speak multiple languages and are available on nights and weekends.

Frischmann also noted that Uwill’s counselors are available for students of any age, which is different from other counseling services that only start at fifth grade.

“Obviously, virtual isn’t for everybody, but it’s better than nothing,” she said. “It’s certainly a start.”

Board member Gary Schraufnagel asked about a provision in the service agreement that allows the district to offer additional credits to students from a special pool. Bargender said the district would have to pay extra for that, so if there’s an issue with students exhausting their credits, he will come back to the board for approving more.

The contract also states that students who use up their 180 credits can also choose to work with Uwill directly for additional counseling sessions at an established cost.

In response to another question from the board, Bargender said Uwill will provide district administrators with detailed reports about the number of students using the counseling sessions.

Other business

■ Bargender said construction is progressing well on the district’s referendum-approved projects, which includes the addition of more classrooms, restructuring of the high school entrance and an expansion of the east parking lot. The only hitch so far involves the discovery of a 15-inch concrete storm sewer pipe that was not on any record. The estimated cost of $49,000 for replacing the pipe will come out of the project’s contingency fund, he said.

■ As part of the athletic director’s report, it was noted that the district is still trying to find a head coach for the girls basketball team. Bargender said he’s been asking every teacher that’s hired if they are interested in coaching, and there are two or three community members who may be willing to do it.

■ The board accepted the retirement of Ruth Heindl, middle/high school administrative assistant, who had been with the district for 24 years.

■ The board approved the hiring of Hannah Brogan as a kindergarten teacher, Madeline Schneider as a fourth-grade teacher, Maddi Coutley as a kindergarten/first grade teacher and Mikaela Leibfried as a fifthgrade teacher. The board also approved Chance Clement as head girls wrestling coach, a newly created position that accounts for the growing number of girls participating in the sport. Clement had previously served as an assistant coach focusing on the girls in the program, but it was decided that a separate head coaching position was needed.

■ The board approved salary increases for Dashir Management, with support staff receiving 4 percent raises and facilities manager Sean Wiese earning a 3 percent raise. The total contract amount is $336,148 per year for the next three years.

■ The board renewed its Grow Your Own Scholarship agreement with the Colby, Spencer and Owen-Withee school districts. The program offers local graduates $3,000 per year for the first two years of college, and $5,000 for the final two years of teacher education, if they agree to teach in one of the consortium schools for at least five years after they graduate.

■ The board approved the creation of a new joint middle school baseball and softball program with Colby, with the teams slated to play 10 games per season as way of preparing players for possible participation in high school.

■ The board renewed the district’s liability, cyber, auto and workmen’s comp insurance, with an increase of just $92 in premiums.

■ The board approved a new five-year contract application for the state’s Achievement Gap Reduction program, which supports lower class sizes, instructional coaching and one-on-tutoring in K-3, with the goal of improving reading and math test scores.