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Students and educators urge stronger mental-health supports; coach asks board to add boys volleyball
Summary
Public commenters at the April 21 CUSD 300 board meeting urged the district to strengthen mental-health supports after multiple student deaths and requested the district add boys volleyball at middle and high schools; staff described crisis-team responses and the board heard petitions and staffing concerns.
Dahlia Kelly, a junior at Hampshire High School, told the Community Unit School District 300 Board of Education on April 21 that the school community is grieving the loss of four students this year, two of them by suicide, and asked the district to do more to support students.
"These losses are not just numbers. They are classmates, friends, teammates, siblings," Kelly said, urging the district to "create an environment where people feel seen, supported, valued," and to treat kindness as the norm.
Lee Bennett, a coach at U-46 Canton Middle School, asked the board to add boys volleyball across District 300 high schools and middle schools. Bennett said he collected over 120 in-person signatures supporting the proposal and argued the sport would not diminish opportunities for girls.
"Boys playing volleyball takes nothing away from the girls," Bennett said, and urged the board to add the program at the district's high schools and middle schools.
Jen (Jennifer) Nichols, an educator at Hampshire High School, described an urgent staffing gap and what she called a broken bridge between students in crisis and the support they need. Nichols said Hampshire has lost four students to suicide and one to an accidental death this year and that the building currently has three social workers for roughly 2,000 students — about one for every 657 students.
"When I followed the District 300 three-step intervention ... I was not met with collaboration, but with reprimand," Nichols said, and said she was warned publicly to "stick to the curriculum" after prioritizing a student's immediate safety. She urged the board to address staffing, access to social workers, and what she called a failing safety net.
In response to questions from the board, district staff described crisis and recovery supports deployed at Hampshire High School. Miss Nacky and Mr. Wetzel said the district has deployed a recovery intervention team since the prior Friday and has brought in additional social workers and psychologists — including bilingual staff — to support students, and that follow-up services include grief groups and coordination with outside agencies. Staff emphasized that actions such as honoring students or decisions about prom and graduation are made in collaboration with families.
The board did not take formal action on the public comments during the forum; several members thanked speakers and said the district was taking the situation seriously.
