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Communities in Schools reports declines in some mental-health indicators, highlights attendance and case-managed supports
Summary
Communities in Schools told the East Penn School Board that social-emotional interventions at Emmaus High and Iyer Middle declined from prior years, credited multi-tiered supports and partners for gains, and highlighted attendance as a continuing challenge; the board pressed for comparative data and more bilingual and telehealth options.
Communities in Schools officials presented an annual update to the East Penn School District Board on Aug. 12, reporting changes in social-emotional supports and program outcomes while answering board questions about attendance, bilingual outreach and access to therapists.
Wendy Seifert, vice president of operations for Communities in Schools, said the organization’s local site coordinators focus work across the district’s multi-tiered system of supports. “Our mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life,” Seifert said. She told the board that the district recorded about 345 documented instances of social-emotional intervention at Emmaus High School this year and 63 documented interventions at Iyer Middle School, down from 182 the prior year and 512 in an earlier year.
Seifert said two areas—suicide ideation and self-harm—saw “significant decreases” at the high school, though she cautioned that trends can reflect multiple causes, including improved prevention and changes in data collection. She described site coordinators’ roles at Tier 1 (whole-school supports), Tier 2 (small-group work) and Tier 3 (individual case management) and said that case-managed students at Emmaus High showed the following outcomes: 79% made progress on academic goals, 47% made progress on attendance (a small cohort), 86% met SEL goals and 100% met college-and-career-readiness benchmarks.
Board members asked for comparative data for Lower Macungie Middle School, which does not have a CIS site coordinator. Dr. Campbell said the district’s internal student-supports coordinator performs a role similar to CIS in that building and that the district will provide comparative information. Ms. Bowman asked about follow-up for families who decline services; Seifert said CIS attempts to engage families up to three times and leaves the door open if the family later requests help.
Several board members pressed the presenters on access to therapists and bilingual support. Seifert said CIS does not currently have bilingual site coordinators at Emmaus and has not contracted for online therapy; when students need therapy, CIS typically works with families to use already available insurance resources. She also described partnerships—Project Connect, ArtsQuest and other community groups—that supply mentoring, group programming and targeted interventions.
Jen Corolla, director of educational alternatives, said CIS and school staff coordinate to avoid over-referrals and ensure that students receive the most appropriate supports, noting a shift toward more targeted referrals. Seifert pointed to non-data benefits—therapy dogs, mindful-walk programs and a district mental-health fair—that she said contribute to outcomes that may not fully show up in spreadsheets.
Seifert also noted that CIS awarded a $2,500 scholarship this year to a senior who had been a CIS case-managed student; recipients must be case-managed, write an essay about CIS’s impact and be reviewed by a committee of board and community members. The board requested follow-up reporting to show comparative metrics across buildings and more detail on how CIS measures and disaggregates outcomes.
The presentation was informational; no contract action was taken at the meeting. The board plans to consider a contract update at a future meeting.
