Board hears update on 'Our Healing Is in Our Hands' wellness work; staff say centers stretched but expanding supports

District staff updated the Board of Education on Nov. 9 about implementation of the board'a's 2019 'Our Healing Is in Our Hands' resolution, which aims to expand preventative wellness services and student leadership in health.

Student-and-family-services leaders said the district has hired 6.6 full-time-equivalent therapists to strengthen high-school wellness centers, expanded peer wellness-coaching programs and is leveraging grants and partnerships to extend services. "We are doing the most with what we have," Student and Family Services staff said, noting collaborations with community-based partners including Huckleberry Youth Programs and SFRespect.

The presentation highlighted student-created materials (videos and podcasts) used to promote mental health, outreach in multiple languages and a new middle-school wellness grant funded for five years that will pilot services at several middle sites before expansion. Staff described plans to integrate youth outreach workers into wellness-team business meetings and to offer paid internships.

Commissioners sought immediate action after multiple student comments about sexual assault and said they wanted the district to involve trained youth peer leaders in near-term student-facing events. Staff reported redeploying central-office social workers to impacted schools this week, while warning that taking staff from central duties strains other services.

Next steps: staff will continue to deploy central resources where demand spikes, expand partnerships with community-based organizations, and report back to the board with implementing details and metrics tied to the resolution's goals.

Provenance: Presentation by Chief Billy Love Smith and Christine Hardiman and exchanges with commissioners are recorded in the Nov. 9 meeting.