December 8, 2016 – The Missouri Safe and Drug Free Schools issued a survey of Excelsior Springs middle and high school students for the years 2014 to 2016. A summary of the data indicated that, in 2016, 12.1 percent of students had seriously considered suicide within the past 30 days.
With that information in hand, Excelsior Springs Educational Foundation Executive Director Courtney Cole is seeking a grant with hopes of funding an appropriately trained counselor for the district.
“By hiring a licensed professional counselor we will be addressing behavioral health needs directly to our students who are in need the most,” she said. “Through assessments, the licensed professional counselor will be able to identify behavioral needs and work with teachers and parents to establish a plan that will provide safety precautions for both the students receiving the professional counseling and other students in the learning environment.”
School District Social Worker Kim Curtis and Middle School Counselor Taylor Lane agree there is a need for more mental health support in both school district and community as a whole.
Curtis said that therapy among children is fairly common for one reason or another; she gave examples of divorce, depression, loss of a loved one and behavior or addiction problems.
The problem, Curtis said, is that there isn’t much of a selection of therapists in Excelsior Springs. “Having a therapist in the school would allow a student to miss minimal amounts of class time versus a half day or a full day of school,” said Curtis.
See the rest of this story in the Friday, December 9 issue of the Standard