The Evergreen School District on Oct. 28 described steps it is taking to respond to and prevent student mental-health crises, executives said during the boards Teaching, Learning & Equity update.

District officials introduced RISE (Recovery Initiative and Support Effort), a volunteer crisis-response team of roughly 65–75 staff — counselors, social workers, nurses, school psychologists and family-and-community resource coordinators — who are deployed to school buildings to provide short- and longer-term emotional support after catastrophic injuries, deaths, community violence or other traumatic events. Melanie Green, a RISE lead, said teams of two to eight staff are assembled based on the needs of a building and work alongside school counselors so counselors can continue daily responsibilities.

"We're able to assess what the needs are and then respond appropriately," Green said, describing last years work, when RISE responded to 12 incidents, including eight deaths and four traumatic events that affected students across multiple schools.

Jessica Greenwell, counselor on special assignment, provided district-level data and described follow-up care plans. For the 2024–25 school year, more than 3,100 K–12 students reported suicidal thoughts on district screens and were assessed by counselors; Greenwell said the highest screening counts were in grades 4 and 5. The district is developing suicide-prevention curriculum for grades 4–12 and building a systematic approach to post-incident care, including follow-up at week, month and anniversary milestones after an event.

"Those numbers are very sobering," Greenwell said. She told the board the district is shifting some prevention work earlier in elementary grades because screening results showed elevated risk there.

Casey Lyons, coordinator of social emotional learning, said RISE volunteers also help craft communications with families and run support rooms for students and staff so schools can continue day-to-day operations. RISE training emphasizes coaching school staff on how to hold difficult conversations and how to support students who have lost a classmate or experienced a traumatic event.

District leaders described community-centered outreach connected to the work: a recent suicide-awareness event drew 90 community members and a network of about 15 agencies. The district distributed 28 gun-lock devices and several medication-lock boxes at the event.

Superintendent Maloney said the districts Family and Community Resource Centers (FCRCs) will help families affected by the federal government shutdown and that, under the community eligibility provision, all students will continue to receive free breakfast and lunch. "These meals will continue uninterrupted ensuring that no child in EPS goes hungry during this time," Maloney said.

Board members asked whether RISE materials would be posted publicly; staff said a public-facing summary and resources will be placed on the district website and that some RISE materials currently exist on internal pages. District leaders also said they will continue to report on intervention outcomes and related work at future board meetings, including a fuller presentation on FCRC operations in November.

Sources: statements by Melanie Green, Casey Lyons and Jessica Greenwell during the Oct. 28 Evergreen School District Board of Directors meeting.