Rising senior tells Wappingers board the district needs more mental-health staff and easier access to counseling

At the public-comment portion of the meeting, Rowan Claypool, a rising senior at Roy C. Ketcham High School, urged the Wappingers Central School District to expand mental-health staffing and make counseling more accessible following a recent student death.

Claypool said mental health is often discussed in slogans but not sufficiently backed by staffing: he told the board that Ketcham has "three psychologists, two social workers, and a student assistant counselor, one of which is retiring this year," and contrasted that with what he said were 11 security personnel in the building (six school safety officers, four substitutes and one resource officer). "School safety officers may prevent fights, but don't prevent the mental health, social, and familial issues that cause them," he said.

Claypool described difficulty in reaching counselors and said he relied on family resources and individual connections to get support. "We need more mental health resources. We need them to be more—listen," he said, urging the board to prioritize services and to listen to people who have lived experience.

A board representative reminded the speaker that state and federal privacy laws limit discussion of individual student matters during public comment. The speaker said his goal was to highlight gaps in access to counselors and to press the board to take action.

There was no formal response or action taken during the meeting; the public-comment period ended and the board moved to other business.