Hamtramck board approves mental-health training, reading materials and short food-service extension

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — The Hamtramck School District Board of Education on Monday approved a set of purchases and program rollouts aimed at staff support and literacy resources, including districtwide Mental Health First Aid training, a literacy decodables purchase and a staff well-being program, and it extended the district’s food-service contract through Aug. 31, 2025.

Board members voted to use Title-budgeted funds to send staff for Mental Health First Aid training and to develop in‑house trainers, approving the plan on a voice vote (6 ayes, absent noted). Heather, a district staff member who described the plan to the board, said the training "deals with a lot of the newer issues that have to do with student mental health," citing anxiety, depression and eating disorders and saying the goal is to equip every teacher and many staff with basic response skills.

The board also approved a purchase of decodable reader materials from Lucaria Education (listed in the meeting materials as the vendor) for elementary grades — an agenda description gave a total cost of $32,029.65 — and voted to buy a staff wellness program from Educators Thriving for up to 100 educators at a cost of $34,500. Literacy coaches Natasha Ronda and Karen Burrow told the board the decodables align with the district’s structured-literacy initiatives and small-group intervention work.

Why it matters: District leaders said the purchases respond to two persistent needs: students who…