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Board highlights nurses, cafeteria staff and growing mental‑health supports; district reports staffing and service numbers
Summary
At its May 5 meeting the board recognized school nurses and nutrition staff and heard a status report on mental‑health services, including SPARX, Gaggle Teletherapy and community partners providing in‑school therapists.
The Orange County Board of Education on May 5 recognized school nurses and school nutrition workers and received a report on the district’s mental‑health services and community partnerships.
Food and Nutrition staff highlighted School Lunch Hero Day and described an ongoing district encouragement campaign for Teacher Appreciation Week. The district’s nutrition leader reported that the program served 714,659 meals for breakfast and lunch last school year and had served 647,938 meals so far this year.
On nursing, Lead Nurse Sylvia Compton told the board Orange County Schools currently has 13 school nurses (roughly one assigned per school), one float nurse and two health technicians. Susan Vaughn, the float nurse, described supporting all 13 schools on a rotating basis and urged continued retention of nursing staff as enrollment grows. The district reported total enrollment of 7,458 students during the presentation.
On mental health, Dr. Dreher (speaking on behalf of Mental Health Coordinator Daniel Kearns Pickett) summarized district efforts for Mental Health Awareness Month. The district reported partnerships with three in‑person school‑based agencies — Renaissance Wellness Services, Youth Extensions and Upward Change — and noted Piedmont Health provides a therapist at Eflin Cheeks Elementary with hopes to expand that model. The district continues to offer Gaggle Teletherapy for students and said it has implemented SPARX, a trauma‑informed digital intervention, in middle and some high schools. Staff also described a Teen Mental Health First Aid rollout to ninth graders at Cedar Ridge and Orange High School.
Dr. Dreher said staff were asked to include mental‑health updates in weekly communications, promote awareness activities on social media, and wear green for Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day.
Board members praised cafeteria staff and school nurses and asked for future reporting on the scale of mental‑health services and whether demand and wait lists are changing. Several board members requested a later update quantifying how many students are being served through school‑based agencies and any observed wait‑list effects.
