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District highlights expansion of CTE pathways and growth in school-based mental-health services
Summary
Steamboat Springs School District told the board it is adding career and technical education pathways across six state career clusters and expanding school-based mental-health services with more contracted therapists, new trainings and a planned universal screening rollout.
Steamboat Springs School District leaders presented the board on March 3 with progress on Strategic Plan Focus Area 2: college- and career-readiness and social/behavioral supports.
On career and technical education: High school principal Jay Hamrick and CTE coordinator Kirsten Brentro described an expansion of CTE pathways so students can choose from a full set of state career clusters. Brentro said next school year students will be able to pursue courses and concurrent-enrollment credits in construction trades, engineering, media and technology, business, natural resources, outdoor recreation leadership, health science and a new education pathway. She said many courses articulate with Colorado Mountain College and Perry-Mansfield offerings, provide opportunities to earn industry-recognized certifications and include internships and advisory-board partnerships with nearly 50 community members.
On career planning: Hamrick noted the district is rolling out Individual Career and Academic Plans (ICAPs) aligned to grade-level touch points and recently sent the assistant principal to an ICAP conference to develop best practices.
On mental and behavioral health supports: Teaching and learning director and presenters described a tiered mental-health framework the district uses. Midyear data showed the district provided tier-1 supports to 2,523 students (universal supports), targeted tier-2 services to 243 students and intensive tier-3 services to 14 students at midyear. The district reported it has increased contracted school-based therapists from nine to 14 and that 55 students were enrolled in tier-3 services at the time of the presentation (32 were actively receiving individual therapy when midyear data were collected). Leaders said 90.6% of the students in an active caseload had treatment plans.
Screening and rollout: Staff said they are on target to meet an updated timeline for districtwide screening with the assessment tool the transcript refers to as the "by mass" (staff described an initial grade-level rollout, parent opt-out procedures, and targeted staff training to ensure data-driven responses). Presenters emphasized bilingual clinician capacity and noted one bilingual therapist on staff plus an internship practicum to grow bilingual providers locally.
Why it matters: The CTE expansion aims to align programming to local labor markets and increase students’ postsecondary options. The mental-health expansion aims to provide a continuum of care — universal prevention, targeted interventions and intensive therapeutic services — to support student learning and safety.
Board response and next steps: Board members praised the CTE growth and the development of community partnerships, hydroponics and biotech projects, and new education-pathway courses. On behavioral health, members asked about capacity and sustainability; district leaders said partnerships, grant-funded training and growing local practicum pipelines are part of the plan. The district will continue implementation and report back on the screening rollout and CTE advisory committee outcomes.
Ending: No policy votes were taken on Focus Area 2 items; the board commended staff and asked for updates as pathways and screening rollouts progress.
