Tis story originally appeared in C&G News on September 10, 2021.

HARRISON TOWNSHIP/MACOMB TOWNSHIP — As a new school year begins, one local district is increasing staffing in the area of social and emotional support.

On Aug. 23, the L’Anse Creuse Public Schools Board of Education listened to a recommendation from the special education for a social-emotional support system.

The meeting packet indicates the district would like to establish a school-based and district-wide multi-tiered system of support that is adequately equipped and resourced to provide equitable and effective student services.

The district will target to fill 11 new positions like school social workers, school counselors and nurses, to fulfill its indentured student social and emotional support goals.

The school board unanimously approved the request for additional staff.

The thought behind the action stems from the Michigan Student Recovery Advisory Council, which published the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery.

“This document identifies the insufficient and inequitable distribution of school mental health professionals and nurses across districts and limited collaboration with and access to community partners,” the packet states.

For school counselors and social workers, the current district combined ratio, based on 10,000 students, is 314-to-1. The target combined ratio, with 10 additional staff in that area, would be 240-to-1.

Regarding the district nurse, the current ratio is 10,000-to-1. Adding one more nurse would cut that number in half.

“We know coming out of this COVID year, there’s a lot of mental wear and tear on our students, and we wanted to put the support system in place to help those kids,” Board President Hilary Dubay said.

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