Cumberland County Schools approves updated school mental health improvement plan for DPI submission
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Summary
District staff presented and the board approved an updated School Mental Health Improvement Plan required by the State Board of Education; the plan documents programs, training, referral protocols, LME/MCO coordination and evaluation methods and must be submitted to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction by Sept. 15.
The Cumberland County Board of Education received and approved an updated School Mental Health Improvement Plan that the district must submit to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) by Sept. 15.
Dr. Scott, a staff member, told the committee the plan is the district’s second five‑year cycle under the state school mental health policy and summarizes strengths, gaps and required components including an assessment of needs, lists of prevention programs, training plans and a suicide referral protocol. "This is our second cycle," Dr. Scott said, noting the requirement stems from a 2020 state law and the State Board of Education policy adopted Nov. 5, 2020.
What the plan includes: the presentation laid out the district’s existing initiatives (Wayfinder and Satchel Pulse SEL curricula, school mental health support team, school behavioral health outpatient counseling, Say Something reporting app and a partnership with local providers). Dr. Scott described measurement and evaluation practices (pre/post screening for small-group programs such as Sparks and Bounce Back and use of the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale for suicide-risk screening) and said the district has an MOU in place or partnership discussions with Alliance Health for provider coordination.
Performance and priorities: Dr. Scott reported growth in several program metrics: referrals handled by the school mental health support team have risen from about 117 annually early in the program’s history to roughly 500, and school behavioral health referrals exceed 400 per year. He said K–5 students showed gains on the district’s SEL measures and that fidelity of tier 1 and tier 2 SEL instruction remains a priority. The district said it will continue using electronic dashboards (Wayfinder, Satchel Pulse, Say Something) and internal spreadsheets to evaluate program outcomes and to prepare the annual report DPI now requires.
Committee discussion: Board members asked about data showing whether services were reducing incidents or repeated problems. Dr. Scott said the district tracks program-specific measures (for Sparks and Bounce Back the average reduction in symptom scores was between about 1 and 2.23 points in recent years) and that the school mental health support team maintains monthly data and SMART goals for these programs.
Implementation: The plan includes a training roster, suicide referral protocol and a description of how the district will manage treatment referrals and student reentry following residential or hospital stays. Dr. Scott said the district will finalize attachments and submit the plan to DPI by Sept. 15 as required.