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APS describes counseling staffing, residency plan and in‑school crisis team expansion
Summary
APS officials detailed counseling staffing levels (224 counselors and multiple Crossroads counselors), acknowledged vacancies and said they will create a residency program to recruit mental-health providers while expanding an in‑the‑moment Integrated Support Team (IST).
Albuquerque Public Schools officials used a listening session to outline current counseling capacity, vacancy challenges and plans to expand in-school crisis response.
Dr. Kenneth Salazar, Associate Superintendent of School Climate, said the district currently employs 224 counselors and additional specialty staff: 13 college-career counselors, 13 high-school Crossroads counselors, 11 middle-school Crossroads counselors, 14 behavioral-health counselors and 12 contracted mental-health providers. He also acknowledged persistent vacancies and said APS is developing a residency program with human resources, the Albuquerque Teacher Federation and the University of New Mexico to grow the pool of providers.
Why it matters: Board members and families asked how APS prevents behaviors from escalating to violence and what supports exist beforehand. Dr. Salazar described a layered approach — schoolwide prevention (culture of care), targeted functional behavior assessments and behavior-improvement plans, and case-managed IST support for students who need intensive services.
Integrated Support Team and follow-up: Chief Steve Gallegos described the Integrated Support Team (IST) as a model that responds to students in crisis at the moment, not days later. Chantel Miller was named as the IST lead; staff said the team conducts threat assessments, provides de-escalation and follows up with families, and that data collected guides ongoing supports.
Community partnerships and provider network: Vicki Price, senior director of counseling, said opioid-settlement funds were used to increase Crossroads counselors and to buy vape-detection equipment. APS also runs a community‑schools model with roughly 68 community schools and uses an RFP process to add external mental-health providers for school-based services.
Next steps and constraints: Officials said staffing shortages are a national problem and that recruiting through a residency program is a near-term priority. The district also noted that some specialized trainings (for special-education inclusion and crisis response) have not yet reached every site and that capacity will be scaled over time.
The session closed with staff encouraging families to stay connected to school teams and to use anonymous reporting tools when they have safety concerns.
