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Board OKs ESU 3 MOU to place full-time school mental-health practitioners in five buildings
Summary
The Ralston board approved an MOU with ESU 3 to introduce school mental-health practitioners in five of the district's eight buildings; ESU 3 assumes initial grant risk and district staff said placements could begin in early March.
The Ralston Public Schools Board on Feb. 10 approved a memorandum of understanding with Educational Service Unit (ESU) 3 to bring a school mental-health practitioner to five district buildings: the high school, middle school, Bloomfield, Mockingbird and Karen Western.
Board members heard that ESU 3 will hire and place full-time practitioners under a grant-funded model; district staff said ESU 3 is assuming the initial funding risk and that the district is not financially obligated under the MOU unless funding is later altered. The district identified space logistics as the principal operational challenge but said it expects placements could begin as early as March 1.
"This will give us the opportunity to put a full-time school mental-health practitioner in five of our eight buildings," a board member said during the motion discussion. Board members also asked about the contingency if grant funding were rescinded; staff replied that legal challenges to federal grant pauses could take a year to resolve and that ESU 3 understood the funding risk when interviewing candidates.
The motion passed unanimously. The district will work with ESU 3 to finalize hiring, assign office space and schedule practitioner start dates; ESU 3 will provide ongoing updates to district leadership.
