Board approves $1.1 million mental-health grant to partner with Jay Foundation

The Natrona County School District #1 board voted to accept a $1,100,000 grant from the Natrona Collective Health Trust to partner with the Jay Foundation on suicide-prevention and mental-health efforts.

Superintendent Hensley announced the grant during the meeting and described it as a district partnership with the Jay Foundation focused on suicide prevention and mental health supports. Trustees discussed the grant briefly; a motion to approve the item passed by voice vote with the chair announcing unanimous consent.

Trustees and staff described the Jay Foundation’s local “boots” effort—an awareness and check-in campaign that encourages community members to check on people they may be worried about and to check in on themselves—as part of the initiative. Board members said the program will involve school volunteers and that participation logistics will be developed by district staff.

The grant was presented and approved on the consent agenda, which the board approved as a group. No specific implementation timeline, departmental assignment, or budget line-item detail was provided during the public portion of the meeting; trustees indicated staff would follow up with operational planning. The board also noted additional community donations reported at the meeting (Qdoba and JNC Investments) but those were presented as acceptance of donations, not separate actions requiring district funding.

The board did not record a detailed roll-call vote in the transcript for the consent agenda; the chair announced the consent agenda approved and later said the grant vote was unanimous.