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Plum Borough SD delays action on Cartwheel mental-health services after board requests more information
Summary
After a multi-month review and presentations from student-services staff, the board did not take final action on a proposed Cartwheel Health Services contract; a motion to table produced a 4–4 roll-call tie and administrators removed the item from the action agenda for further follow-up.
District student-services staff presented the board with a multi-step review recommending Cartwheel Health Services as an additional school-based mental-health resource. Presenters said Cartwheel could reduce wait times, provide services in more than 30 languages, and work to become an in-network provider for state insurances before full deployment.
Student-services leadership said the recommendation followed meetings with internal and external stakeholders dating back to December and into January and April. Staff characterized Cartwheel as a supplement to (not a replacement for) in-district social workers and noted potential benefits including family-focused early-intervention supports, medication-management resources, and reduced referral wait times.
Multiple board members expressed appreciation for the review but requested answers to outstanding questions (some kept confidential for student privacy) before committing to a contract. One board member moved to table the item to allow staff to gather additional information. The roll-call on the motion to table resulted in a 4–4 split and therefore failed; however, the chair and administration later removed the contract from the action agenda because not enough members were ready to proceed to a vote that evening.
A board member said plainly: “I would like to make a motion to table it,” and others asked the administration to return with responses to specific questions before the contract is brought back for action.
Next steps: administration will answer the outstanding questions identified by board members and can place the contract back on a future agenda when five board members indicate readiness to vote.
