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Cedar Hill ISD outlines growing network of mental-health and SEL partners; officials report rising participation
Summary
CHISD officials reported expanded mental-health partnerships and increased student participation in social-emotional learning (SEL) supports; district staff cited MOUs, free services and screening processes as paths to connect students to care.
Dr. Courtney Jackson, representing Cedar Hill ISD counseling services, told the board on June 27 that the district has expanded mental-health and social-emotional learning (SEL) partnerships and that more students are receiving in-school supports.
Jackson said the district's elementary SEL participation was 92%, middle school 87% and high school 84% for the SEL/behavior survey, which the district uses to identify students for tiered interventions. She reported that 15% of elementary students, 13% of middle-school students and 8% of high-school students are receiving tier-2 or tier-3 SEL supports; separate mental/behavioral-health partnerships are serving about 7% of elementary, 4% of middle and 6% of high-school scholars, Jackson said.
Jackson highlighted longtime and newer partners that provide services under memoranda of understanding (MOUs), including Hamilton (the largest partner, serving about 200 families), Helping Hands and Bridging the Gap; she also cited the Chaplain in Schools program and an upcoming Care Portal rollout. She said many partners provide services at no cost to families and that several MOUs extend into the 2025-26 school year.
Trustees pressed Jackson on access and routing: how families and students learn about supports, and how incidents such as fights or bullying are routed to counselors. Jackson said school administrators screen and refer students after investigations and that counselors follow up with families; the district conducts universal screeners at the start of the year and uses SEL surveys to identify students needing services. She said partner therapists attended meet-the-teacher nights and family events to accept on-site referrals, which helped Hamilton gather more than 260 parent referrals and maintain roughly 200 active cases.
Board members asked for further accountability and data connections. A trustee requested a "deep dive" on repeated and group fights to determine whether students received documented SEL supports or other interventions; district staff said they would coordinate with student services, behavior specialists and principals to report back.
Jackson also described upcoming initiatives: a digital parent university video series produced with communications and four mental-health partners, ongoing training (including state-mandated HP3 mental-health training), and targeted events such as "Mindful Kings" for male high-school students and girls'only programming at middle schools.
Jackson said counseling staff are tracking outcomes and that the district evaluates MOUs and grant-funded programs annually to determine continuing agreements and funding for the following year.
No formal action was taken; trustees asked staff to return with additional documentation requested during the discussion.
