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Parents, advocates urge Howard County Board to preserve gifted programs and school-based mental health funding
Summary
At the May 20 Howard County Board of Education meeting public forum, parents and community advocates urged the board to keep gifted-education programming and school-based mental health services fully funded, citing student benefits and program usage.
At the Howard County Board of Education meeting on May 20, parents and community advocates told the board during the public forum that gifted education programs and school-based mental health services must remain fully funded.
Speakers said those programs deliver differentiated instruction and in-school counseling that reach thousands of students. "Specifically, I am requesting that the gifted education programming and the school based mental health program remain fully funded," said Lisa Krause, a former River Hill parent and PTSA president.
Krause told the board the county's gifted offerings provide "accelerated learning, differentiated approaches and or curriculums" and credited those services as a reason families move to Howard County. She also asked the board to maintain funding, staffing and resources for school-based mental health services.
Christie McLeod, a parent and neighborhood resident, said the demand for mental-health support in schools has grown and called sustained funding "not a luxury. It is a lifeline of our children." McLeod described counselors and social workers stationed in schools as intervening "before small struggles become crises" and linked early intervention to better school outcomes.
Ryan Powers, who identified himself at the podium as a parent, urged the board not to repeat past budget cuts to gifted services and said the system has lost staff for advanced learners. "GT staff has also lost 35 positions since 02/2016," Powers said, arguing that pull-out services for gifted students reduce class size and better align instruction to student needs.
Speakers referenced the systemwide school-based mental health program's reach. "Since its inception, the school based mental health program has provided more than 5,000 students across our school with access to mental health counseling during the school day," Krause told the board.
The board did not take action during the public forum; the meeting proceeded to other agenda items after public comments concluded.
