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Waco ISD board approves partnership to bring behavioral-health staff into middle schools
Summary
The Waco ISD board approved an expanded partnership with Waco Family Medicine to add behavioral-health capacity in district schools, including plans for three social workers in middle schools and future telehealth options, citing local and state mental-health access challenges.
The Waco Independent School District board voted to expand a partnership with Waco Family Medicine to bring behavioral-health services directly into schools, including an initial placement of three social workers — one for each middle school — and plans to develop in-school telehealth access.
Superintendent Tiffany Spicer told trustees the district wants to "partner to help our students and do some preventative work," and said the board has the opportunity to add clinicians who will work collaboratively with existing school counselors and administrators. "We have the opportunity to bring 3 social workers to our middle schools, 1 for each school," Spicer said.
Dr. Jackson Griggs of Waco Family Medicine framed the proposal with national and local data, noting that professional groups have declared a youth mental-health emergency and that Texas faces severe workforce shortages. "In 2021, the ... American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry declared a national mental health emergency," Griggs said, and he added that "Texas ranks 50th out of 50 states in terms of mental health professional access." He also cited McLennan County's higher pediatric mental-health hospitalization rate.
Griggs described how clinicians based in schools could assess and treat diagnosable conditions, provide psychotherapy, and, when appropriate, arrange clinic appointments or telehealth follow-up — always with family consent. The presenters emphasized coordination with existing school counseling staff to avoid duplicating services.
Trustees discussed the proposal and then approved the partnership in a motion taken at the meeting. No fiscal details or start dates beyond the initial staffing plan were included in the presentation; trustees asked staff to finalize workflows and consent processes with campuses and families.
What happens next: The district and Waco Family Medicine will finalize operational details and consent procedures; trustees were told the initiative will begin with the three proposed social-worker placements and expand as capacity and funding allow.
