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Summers County board hears counselors’ concerns about suicides, staffing and launches state-funded parent coaching
Summary
Counselors and community partners told the Summers County Board of Education on Nov. 1 that heavy counselor caseloads, insurance/copay barriers and recent suicides are straining school supports. The board heard a free, state-funded parent coaching program and agreed to pursue coordinated staff training and a cross-agency action plan.
Board members and school counselors on Nov. 1 devoted the longest discussion of Summers County Schools’ meeting to student mental health, suicide prevention and the gap between school-based support and community mental‑health capacity.
Counselors described growing caseloads, limits on intensive counseling without parental consent and the difficulty of referring students to outside therapists when families face high copays or transportation barriers. One school counselor said the district must treat threats to student safety seriously: “If a child threatens ... we make parent contact and it is a phone call,” the counselor said, noting the district follows a policy of direct parent contact rather than a text or app message.
Board members were told the district has recently experienced multiple student attempts or deaths by suicide and that staff feel the workload and risk acutely. Counselors described efforts to build relationships — advisory check‑ins, weekly progress monitoring and lunch‑group supports — and credited Community Schools staff with helping families access services and meet basic needs.
Community Schools staff and counselors urged a coordinated, districtwide action plan that would standardize prevention steps, incident reporting and follow‑up, and expand staff training. Several speakers recommended more in‑person, trauma‑informed professional development rather than online briefings so frontline staff are fully attentive.
As an immediate resource the board heard a presentation from David Lee of the Cook Center/parentguidance.org about a statewide parent‑coaching program the state purchased for the next three years. Lee said the state contracted the parent‑coaching service for roughly $3.5 million over three years and that the program — which offers 30‑minute coaching sessions, mood checks and on‑demand modules — is available to Summers County parents and staff at no charge. "The state has purchased [the parent coaching] for $3.5 million over three years," Lee said, and county leaders were encouraged to promote signups locally; Lee noted about 720 parents and educators statewide had signed up since the August launch.
Counselors and Community Schools staff asked the board to support several follow‑up steps: (1) convene a standing committee of counselors, community‑partner staff and administrators to create an action plan for suicide prevention and coordinated referrals; (2) budget or identify funds to pay staff for after‑hours training when necessary; (3) partner with community providers to address gaps in sliding‑scale availability; and (4) promote the state parent‑coaching service on the district website to increase uptake.
Next steps recorded in the meeting included scheduling outside staff training by the visiting partner (Brother Up) on Nov. 14–15, exploring multi‑agency case agreements to speed access to intensive services, and tasking administrative staff to return to the board with a proposal to formalize a prevention/coordination committee.
The board did not approve any new personnel or policy changes in this discussion; the group focused on coordination, training and promotion of available resources.
