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Nursing student urges board to expand proactive mental‑health supports for high‑schoolers
Summary
A Heritage University nursing student told the board the district needs earlier, evidence‑based social‑emotional and mental‑health programs, citing limited counselor availability in high school and ER cases involving teens with suicidal thoughts.
Mariana, a senior nursing student from Heritage University, used the board's public‑comment period to urge expanded, proactive mental‑health supports in Yakima high schools.
Mariana said that when she was in high school there was ‘‘just one counselor for nearly 400 students’’ and that mental health was rarely discussed. Drawing on clinical experience during nursing rotations at Multicare Yakima Memorial Hospital, she told the board she frequently encountered under‑18 patients in the emergency department for suicidal thoughts or self‑harm and said those outcomes are often preventable with earlier school‑based supports.
She asked the board to consider evidence‑based, small‑group and one‑on‑one social‑emotional learning programs that foster coping skills and reduce anxiety and depression, citing CDC‑reported evidence that targeted SEL interventions can improve mental‑health outcomes for at‑risk students.
The board received the comment during its public‑comment period; no immediate action was taken, and the superintendent and board members acknowledged the concern and the need to continue work on student supports.
