Student services seeks $34,500 renewal for Referral GPS navigation tool used to connect families with mental‑health resources

Laurel (Student Services) presented a proposal July 28 to renew Referral GPS, a web‑based resource navigation tool used by district staff and families to find local mental‑health and social‑service supports. She said staff logged 5,845 searches on behalf of families during the prior school year and that the platform is available for families on the district website for anonymous self‑searches.

Laurel and other student‑services staff said Referral GPS supplements statewide navigation tools such as IRIS and Beacon by concentrating on more local providers and by showing availability (for example, whether a provider is accepting new patients or offers evening appointments). The tool includes a “care navigator” function to help families identify low‑ or no‑cost options.

Price and procurement The presenter asked the committee to support renewing the service for one year at $34,500; the committee did not take a final vote at the meeting but was asked to forward the item to the next board meeting for a formal vote.

Board members asked about communication to families (several said they had not known the resource existed), whether the cooperative or other government entities might share costs, update frequency for the provider database, and staff feedback. Presenters said the district will work with communications to expand awareness on the district website and that Referral GPS conducts at least annual updates with real‑time changes between updates; presenters offered to follow up with the vendor for additional details.

Attribution: attributes and quotes are drawn from Student Services presenters at the July 28 committee meeting.