Sheboygan schools expand in‑school therapy and plan local intensive outpatient program

The Sheboygan Area School District on Monday outlined an expanded set of mental‑health services for students and a new partnership with Rogers Behavioral Health to offer a school‑based intensive outpatient program (IOP) beginning in fall 2025.

District staff told the Board of Education that the PATH school‑based therapy program now has 17 PATH therapists working across buildings, has served 385 students so far this school year and delivered about 4,600 therapy sessions. Board members were also shown a plan with Rogers to run a local IOP at South High School for middle‑ and high‑school students who need more intensive treatment than typical school supports provide.

District leaders said those services reduce barriers families face when students must travel outside Sheboygan for care. “There is no financial burden to families,” Jason Leaderman, staff member, said of PATH services, adding that co‑pays have been covered for families through program partnerships.

Board members heard a description of the district's tiered, multilevel approach to student mental health: universal prevention and screening (tier 1), small‑group and targeted interventions (tier 2) and individualized, intensive supports (tier 3). School social worker Cassandra Lee Pack said classrooms and schools use restorative practices, trauma‑informed approaches and districtwide screening to identify students who need additional help.

Staff described specific programs: Get Kids Ahead (a DPI‑supported anxiety intervention that has reached more than 250 students over three years), CBITS (trauma‑focused group treatment), community mentoring (Big Brothers Big Sisters) and a vaping education program called Catch My Breath that links school incidents to educational intervention rather than strictly punitive consequences.

PATH details presented to the board say PATH serves students beginning in early childhood (4K) through eighth grade and now includes a family‑therapy branch that invites parents into short‑term family sessions when clinicians determine family participation would help a student's progress. Leaderman said the PATH model removes cost and scheduling barriers by providing services during the school day and that families receive information about the clinician and how to communicate about treatment.

The Rogers IOP outlined to the board would be a half‑day, school‑based IOP with capacity for 8–10 students at a time, sessions up to three hours and individualized durations typically around six to eight weeks. Keegan Ryans, operations manager at Rogers Behavioral Health, said clinicians would bill insurance as a primary funding path and that Rogers's foundation could assist families who lack coverage. Ryans said the program would include one on‑site therapist and one support staff member, with nursing and psychiatric consults provided virtually from the clinic.

Board members asked about logistics and safeguards: how students are transported to and from the program, how age ranges are handled, whether confidentiality and parental consent will be maintained, and how school and provider teams will coordinate reintegration. District staff said they would use releases of information to enable weekly progress reporting among provider, family and school staff, and that transportation would be arranged with families or district resources as needed.

The board was told the district is in near‑final steps with Rogers and is targeting implementation in fall 2025. No contract was approved at the meeting; staff said any formal contract would be returned to the board for approval.

Board members and staff praised the growth of the district's mental‑health work and flagged funding and sustainability as ongoing concerns. Several trustees credited community partners, including Sheboygan County, United Way and Lakeshore Community Healthcare, for helping expand services.