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Wellness staff report rising McKinney-Vento caseload; district budgets for transportation and situational services
Summary
The district’s wellness director said Wall Township saw a 46% increase in McKinney-Vento eligible students and outlined budget items for transportation, homebound instruction and crisis-response teams.
Miss Steiner, director of wellness, told the board at its Feb. 25 budget workshop that the wellness program’s 2025–26 budget focuses on prevention, intervention and postvention and includes funding for crisis management, staff professional development and medical supports.
Steiner said prevention work includes classroom lessons tied to the 7 Mindsets program and nursing supplies; intervention funding prioritizes mental-health counseling, the BASE intervention program for students facing emotional challenges, and staff training for teams such as I&RS and Section 504 committees. Postvention spending supports crisis management and threat-assessment teams and the district’s use of Lifelines for response strategies.
Steiner explained situational spending categories and cited the McKinney-Vento federal law governing educational stability for students experiencing homelessness. She said Monmouth County saw a 24% increase in McKinney-Vento eligible students for 2023–24 and that Wall Township experienced a 46% increase. Steiner described transportation and tuition responsibilities under McKinney-Vento, including that a student placed temporarily in another district becomes domiciled in the new district after 365 days and that responsibility for transportation, tuition and related costs can shift between districts.
She said situational spending is difficult to predict because of housing availability and that costs include not only tuition and transportation but also school supplies, meals and access to medical resources. Steiner also noted homebound instruction costs for students unable to attend school and the need for nursing coverage during before- and after-school activities for students with medical needs.
Board members asked whether programs had measurable outcomes; Steiner pointed to increased reporting of concerning behaviors and to positive feedback from elementary “mindset mentors” and other programming as early indicators of impact.
Steiner said the district plans to continue collaborating with community behavioral-health agencies and to pursue trauma-informed-practice training partnerships.
