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Well-being initiative continues; district outlines use of state wellness funds
Summary
Director Lori Lochkin reviewed the district’s well-being programs, partnerships and required use of Student Wellness and Success funds for mental and physical health services.
Lori Lochkin, director of teaching and learning, updated the board Aug. 11 on the district’s student well-being initiative and the use of state-provided Student Wellness and Success funds.
Lochkin summarized the program’s vision, established in the 2017–18 school year, to promote students’ mental and physical well-being and outlined an annual process of program evaluation, gap analysis and iterative scaling across grade levels. She listed program themes that include belonging, developmentally appropriate social-emotional learning, drug- and alcohol-prevention, kindness initiatives, multi-tiered systems of support and suicide prevention.
Lochkin said the district’s Student Wellness and Success funds are required to allocate at least 50 percent of the dollars to physical or mental health services. The district uses much of the funding to contract with Concord and other partners for prevention and clinician services and to coordinate with ESCCO (Educational Service Center Central Ohio) and other approved community providers. She said the district also posts required plans and annual reports to the Ohio Department of Education as part of compliance.
Lochkin described a phased rollout of “houses” and related programming across buildings: some buildings piloted earlier than others and this school year will be the first full implementation across all levels; administrators reported positive anecdotal feedback from staff and students and asked for more school-branded items to build engagement. She said the district will administer the belonging survey this fall, with timing to be set after school begins and building leaders confirm timelines.
Lochkin and board members discussed offering a mix of daytime and evening parent-education sessions and possibly recording presentations to increase reach while protecting confidentiality when parents ask about individual student situations.
The board asked Lochkin to continue working with principals, counselors and students to identify ways to expand supervised outdoor recreation options at the middle school during recess.
