Keller ISD outlines SHAC scope, curriculum guidance and plan to vet mental-health vendors
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Summary
Keller ISD staff presented a SHAC guidance document that will centralize health and counseling curriculum, link resources and list delivery methods. District staff and counselors will narrow mental-health vendors and bring a shortlist to SHAC for community-standards review.
Keller ISD assistant superintendent Jennifer Price briefed the SHAC on a draft guidance document and related work intended to bring health instruction, counseling lessons and mental-health vendor information into a single, reviewable location for the council.
“...we are kind of trying to do that same thing here,” Jennifer Price said, describing a district-hosted guidance document that will collect curriculum resources, delivery methods, adoption dates and reevaluation schedules. The document will include links to textbooks and unit documents, puberty videos (used in fourth through sixth grades), counseling lesson banks and documentation on human sexuality instruction and parental permission requirements.
Price said the district intends to post approved materials and resources so SHAC members can review them; some items will be reviewed annually while others will be reexamined when the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) are updated, a process she described as occurring roughly every eight to ten years. She also said district counselors have produced “model lessons” and a lesson bank that will be available for SHAC review.
On mental-health services, SHAC members and staff discussed the current use of multiple outside vendors across campuses. Price and Summer Crowe described a vetting process in which district staff will narrow the list of external providers and present a shortlist to SHAC to review for “community standards” before schools use them broadly. Crowe said the district will short-list vendors and “then you’ll bring that shortlist to SHAC, and SHAC will then read it for community standards.” Kristen Elam, director of counseling (referenced), and counselors will participate in the vetting and review process.
The district also reviewed a recent set of Alliance for Children videos (used in counselor lessons) and intends to link the videos and related lesson plans in the central guidance document so SHAC can review them on a recurring basis.
No formal vote was taken; the presentation functioned as an informational and planning update with next steps assigned to district staff and counselors to compile, vet and present materials to SHAC for community review.
