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Cedar Rapids schools to add SEBH interventionist, campus safety liaisons and $2 million for behavior supports
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Grover told the board the district will invest $2 million and add social-emotional, behavioral and health (SEBH) staffing including a SEBH health intervention specialist, campus safety liaisons at middle schools and building behavior technicians to reduce suspensions and expand tiered supports.
Superintendent Dr. Grover told the Board of Education Monday the district will invest $2,000,000 and add staff roles to expand behavior and mental-health supports across Cedar Rapids schools.
Dr. Grover said the district will add a SEBH (social, emotional, behavioral, health) health intervention specialist in buildings to support students with the highest needs and allow engagement specialists and school counselors to focus on tiered supports. The plan also includes increasing kindergarten paraprofessional hours, placing a campus safety liaison in each middle school, creating student safety and success advocates at elementary schools to carry caseloads for at-risk fourth- and fifth-grade students, and adding building behavior technicians at every secondary school to reduce out-of-school suspensions.
The district will expand its SIOP program for longer-term needs, create a team of SEBH district interventionists available when building behavior plans are ineffective, and convert the district review officer from a part-time to a full-time position to strengthen partnerships among students, families, schools and community partners, Dr. Grover said.
Why it matters: board members and public commenters at the meeting had raised concerns about school safety, vaping and classroom disruptions. District leaders said these investments aim to keep students in school while providing targeted behavioral interventions and to reduce reliance on out-of-school suspensions.
Dr. Grover thanked the district’s Safe and Secure Learning teams—named in the presentation as led by Chris Gibson, Ryals and Parker—and Janessa Carr and said the administration will bring a fuller plan and presentation from the Safe and Secure Learning Department to the board in a future meeting. She said the district will publish details in its newsletter and seek community feedback before returning with a full implementation plan.
The presentation framed the new positions as tiered supports: more tier-1 capacity (increased kindergarten para hours, campus safety liaisons), tier-2 interventions (elementary success advocates) and tier-3 supports (expanded SIOP and SEBH interventionists). The administration said the changes are designed to intervene earlier and follow students as they transition back to their home building after more intensive supports.
No formal board action to fund the $2 million was recorded on Monday; the superintendent presented the plan as part of her report and said more information and a full plan would be returned to the board for review.
