District presents health grant work and early signs of reduced absenteeism tied to telebehavioral services
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Summary
Salem Public Schools staff briefed the committee on a $312,000 grant supporting health curriculum alignment, professional development and youth voice, and said preliminary data from the Cartwheel telebehavioral partnership suggest reductions in chronic absenteeism and suspensions among served students.
District staff presented a progress update on the Promoting Safe and Healthy Learning Environments grant and related wellness work at the March 9 meeting.
Ellen Wingard, executive director of student supports, and colleagues described five grant priorities: internships tied to 21st Century Community Learning Center programming, comprehensive health and physical education alignment across grades, supports for newcomers and homeless students, service-learning and social-emotional learning integration, and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) to elevate student voice. Presenters said the district selected HealthSmart as its health curriculum after a review that emphasized equity, inclusion and financial sustainability for the program.
The grant has also funded the district's Cartwheel telebehavioral-health contract, which provides rapid access to therapy with multilingual providers, case management, parent workshops and consultation. Presenters said preliminary analyses — described as early and subject to further study by Brookline Center and the Department of Public Health partners — show reductions in chronic absenteeism and suspensions among students who received Cartwheel services.
Committee members asked how families and students access Cartwheel services; presenters said school adjustment counselors, City Connects coordinators and a family interest form are the primary referral routes, and that Cartwheel can bill insurance while the contract funds supplemental case management and parent supports. Staff said the current contracted capacity through June 30 is about 200 referrals (the contract was scaled to 200 this year for affordability) and that they are monitoring usage and exploring grants to sustain services beyond the contract end.
Presenters described Youth Voice programming, including a student summit scheduled for May 21, and internship and pipeline work that has placed alumni in paid after-school roles. The grant presenters said they can provide demographic breakdowns of service usage and plan to return with additional impact data when the multiyear studies are completed.
The committee expressed support for the work and asked staff to follow up with updated usage data and demographic metrics.
