After student deaths parents urge stronger mental-health services; board outlines partnerships and TISA bonus
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Summary
Parents called on the Johnson County Board of Education to expand consistent mental-health and suicide-prevention services after a recent student death, and district staff outlined partnerships and a grant submission to hire an additional behavioral therapist.
Parents and community members urged expanded, consistent mental-health services in Johnson County Schools during Jan. 9 public comment following the death of a student.
Tiffany Cornett identified herself as the mother of a 14-year-old named Blake and said the family had not seen warning signs reflected in school action. She described follow-up assemblies and counselor visits after the incident and said many students sought help subsequently. Cornett asked for sustained, repeated classroom-level training for teachers and for clear, long-term supports for siblings and friends of students who attempt or die by suicide.
District staff responded with a summary of current and planned work. Officials said the district is working with the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network, Action Coalition, a bereavement center and East Tennessee State University on resilience training. A district official said a grant had been submitted to hire an additional behavioral therapist; staff said scheduling is being arranged for onsite training for faculty and that principals will receive implementation suggestions from the bereavement center. The district said some assemblies and targeted interventions had already been delivered, and staff reported a forthcoming multi-agency follow-up meeting to ‘‘revamp’’ programming.
Separately in the meeting the district presented TISA outcome-bonus allocations for the 2023–24 year: total bonuses awarded to the district and its students’ outcomes equaled $272,387.50 as announced at the meeting. The transcript shows the breakdown presented by staff: Connections Academy portion $74,287.50 and Johnson County Schools portion $198,100. District staff told the board that last year the board used comparable one-time funds for staff bonuses and that outcome-bonus awards are not guaranteed year to year; staff recommended discussing priorities during budget work sessions.
Board members agreed to continue pursuing training and to schedule follow-up work with partners to move from planning to implementation; several board members asked staff to secure schedules for training visits and return a concrete timeline.
