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Board reviews revised suicide/crisis-response policy; approves policies on first reading
Summary
The board heard a presentation on revisions to policy JHDA and its exhibits that reframe school response as crisis-response, remove routine ranking of suicide severity, add a parent/guardian awareness form with vetted community resources, and require certified-staff suicide-awareness training before employment and every five years; board approved policies on first reading.
Board members heard a detailed presentation on April 7 about proposed revisions to the district’s suicide-prevention policy (the JHDA suite) and related exhibits, and later approved district policies, procedures and exhibits on first reading.
Presenters — school counselors, psychologists and prevention specialists — said revisions emphasize the school role in gathering information, communicating with families and providing referrals and support rather than performing comprehensive clinical assessments. The team recommended re-titling the policy to include "crisis response," clarified that best practice is not to routinely rank suicide severity using tools such as the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale in the school setting, and added a Parent/Guardian Awareness Form that documents what was covered and provides a vetted set of community resources and safety-precaution guidance.
Presenters also cited state law changes and best-practice guidance for training: school-certified staff must receive suicide-awareness/prevention training before employment and every five years thereafter. The team explained that detailed safety planning and postvention protocols exist in the district’s crisis manual and that some steps (for example, safety planning or transport for acute crisis care) may be handled by external clinical providers when families seek that level of care.
Board members asked for procedure-level clarity, including attaching policy documents to board agendas and ensuring the parent form and means-restriction guidance are visible to families. One board member requested that the crisis manual’s postvention procedures be explicitly linked for clarity; presenters said the postvention and reentry processes are in the crisis-support plan and would remain accessible to staff.
The board subsequently approved the first reading of district policies, procedures and exhibits (the first of two readings). District staff said the revisions align policy language with counselors’ scope of practice and with the district’s crisis-response training and resources.
No final policy adoption occurred at the meeting; the second reading and final approval are expected at a future board meeting after the required notice and posting steps.
