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Shoals board advances suicide-prevention, threat-assessment policies and outlines school mental-health steps
Summary
School psychologists and social workers presented suicide-prevention and threat-assessment protocols and asked the board to adopt uniform documentation, staff training, and tiered interventions; they also described plans for classroom supports and possible grant-funded de-escalation rooms.
Myrna Green, the district school psychologist, and Kelly Furman, the school social worker, presented draft policies for suicide prevention and threat assessment and urged the board to adopt consistent documentation and response procedures across the district.
"We want to make sure that if it's me, Kelly, Mrs. Gibson, that they will respond using the same methods, and it will be documented in the same way," Green said, stressing that unified procedures make later legal or clinical review possible. She cited Indiana Youth Institute and QPR training statistics, including a presenter note that "with youth ages 15 to 24, there is one person that dies by suicide every 2 hours."
The presenters described a three-tier intervention model: Tier 1 for universal supports (whole-class SEL and curricula), Tier 2 for small-group interventions led by counselors and social workers, and Tier 3 for intensive individual supports or referrals. They also reported local staffing roles — including Diana Turpin (case conference coordinator), Brittany Bushy (behavior and autism consultant), and school counselors — and emphasized the shortage of community mental-health providers that increases school responsibility for early intervention.
District staff detailed classroom-level practices already in place, from ‘‘I love you guys’’ posters in every room to stop-and-think drills for locations (like cafeterias) that cannot immediately move students to a safe place. They said the protocols align with Department of Education requirements and that the board is asked to complete second-reading approval of the policies.
On safety infrastructure, an aide and other staff described the potential value of grant-funded de-escalation rooms — small, reinforced spaces designed to prevent self-harm and reduce the need for physical restraint. The presenters said funding sources and size options have been identified and estimated a short construction timeline "possibly a month" from approval to completion for smaller installations.
The board approved the policies on a second-reading voice vote. The board did not vote on specific de-escalation-room construction during the meeting; staff said they would bring funding details and grant options forward for future consideration.
