Darien Board Of Ed. Revisits Idea To Hire Director Of Mental Health

DARIEN, CT — The Darien Board of Education revisited the idea of adding a mental health director to the district this week, and board members seemed more comfortable with how the position is being defined this time around.

While no action was taken, the item will be up for approval at the next scheduled meeting.

In August, Superintendent of Darien Public Schools Dr. Alan Addley recommended that the school district hire the director who to lead mental health efforts in all schools.

The recommendation came following the unexpected deaths of three Darien students within the last year — two due to suicide.

Some board members balked at the idea, questioning if it strictly satisfied statutory requirements from the state. The board asked Addley to revise the "vague" job description to better define the role.

At the board's regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Addley highlighted two points that were added to the job description:

The mental health director will serve as the district’s family care coordinator, including acting as a liaison with community mental health resources and mental health experts.

It will also collaborate with the curriculum team to ensure the delivery of a coherent health and wellness curriculum inclusive of social and emotional learning and student mental health PK-12.

While addressing needs in the district, the position will help with regulatory requirements from the state.

Administrators have described the position as a "thread" or "spiral" that will run through each school in Darien, coordinating mental health efforts and bringing mental health supporters together, like counselors, social workers, psychologists, outside agencies, families and the community.

Dr. Christopher Tranberg, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said the director of mental health position will also focus on school climate.

"Climate is not just about making sure there's someone to go to, it's making sure students feel like they have someone to go to," Tranberg said. "There's really a big difference. They need to feel safe going to a person in school, and those are the conditions we're hoping this position can create for all students."

John Raskopf, a student representative to the board, said focusing on climate would be meaningful, otherwise he believes students wouldn't be receptive.

"If they don't feel comfortable with one administrative person, I'm not sure why they would, as of right, now feel any more comfortable with someone else," he said.

Board member Julie Best said she was "already there" in supporting the position in August, but appreciated the clarity of the position at Tuesday's meeting. She said the district historically hasn't measured success by how students are feeling.

"We're not used to that and it's not a comfortable or easy thing for us to do. We usually look at how people are performing versus how they're feeling. I think it's fair, but it's going to be tricky to understand how this works. I think we all recognize there's huge value and importance in that," she said.

Board member Tara Ochman said she was "far more comfortable" with supporting the addition of the position, as did fellow board member Jill McCammon.

"What I'm hearing is one, we have statutory obligations we have to fulfill. Two, what this really is is supposed to be the area from which the ideas are coming from to make a real impact in students' lives," Ochman said. "This is the person doing the work reaching out to the stakeholders to really start suggesting changes to climate and support systems for kids."

Other board members asked how the success of the position will be gauged.

Board Chair David Dineen wondered whether surveys, small focus groups, or feedback from counselors or psychologists could be beneficial.

Dineen said it's important to make sure the person who is hired is someone kids can gravitate to, like the School Resource Officers who have become important leaders for students.

"There are people that kids gravitate to. And we should think about who those people are, capture what their secret sauce is, and have that as part of the conversation about how this becomes effective," Dineen said.

Dr. Scott McCarthy, a special services and special education administrator in the district, said school officials need to evaluate, assess and select a screening process to understand what students are feeling.

"We need to get those results, evaluate those results, and design interventions to address those results. It's really around deliverables for me," he said.

Board members also had questions about current staffing levels and caseloads for psychologists.

"Our psychologists are literally the boots on the ground on this. If kids want to get in to see a psychologist right now, can they?" asked board member Tara Ochman.

Shirley Klein, assistant superintendent of special education and student services in Darien, said school psychologists are always overworked.

"It just goes with the territory," Klein said. "When you look at the staffing ratio, whether it's an extraordinarily difficult time or just high school time, we do believe we have the proper level."

The salary and benefits of the director of mental health weigh in at $175,000. The district would have to make budget transfers, Addley said.

The board's next regularly scheduled meeting is Sept. 27.