East Aurora district renews mental-health partnership, outlines student-services improvement plan
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Summary
The Aurora East USD 131 board heard that a renewed partnership with Family Counseling Service has reduced school 911 mental-health calls and that the Student Services department has set three goals — professional development, staffing alignment, and a parent group — to strengthen supports for students.
The Aurora East USD 131 Board of Education on Feb. 17 received an update on mental-health supports and a multi-part Student Services improvement plan aimed at keeping students in school and connecting families to care.
Dr. Eric Ward, CEO of Family Counseling Service, described the district’s reestablished partnership and said staff training and a mobile crisis team are central to the work. "Our program has essentially 2 goals. The first is to keep students out of psychiatric hospitals and in school," Ward said, adding that the mobile psychiatric crisis intervention team typically responds within 30 minutes and that the partnership has kept students out of inpatient care "over 90 percent of the time." He also reported the partnership has handled roughly 128 crisis calls to date and generated more than 245 referrals for counseling and psychiatric services, with about 153 students still receiving ongoing services.
Robin Dixon, assistant director of student services, and district staff presented the Student Services department’s three goals for the 2025–26 school year: coordinated and consistent professional development for administrators and staff by June 2026; a staffing assessment by July 2026 to align positions with student needs and federal/state requirements; and the establishment of a student services parent group to improve IEP and 504 understanding. Dixon said the parent group’s first event (Jan. 14) focused on understanding IEPs and 504 plans and the next event is scheduled for March 11.
The presenters framed the Family Counseling Service partnership as a way to reduce law-enforcement involvement for mental-health incidents. Kara Patrick, assistant director of health services, explained the district now completes risk assessments to determine appropriate responses rather than automatically calling 911 for high-risk scores, noting prior practice had often led to 911 responses. "Previously, district practice was to call 911 anytime a risk assessment score came out as high. This is not best practice," she said.
The board had no immediate votes on program expansion during the presentation. The district said it will continue to monitor crisis-call volumes, referrals and service engagement as it implements the improvement plan.
