Three Cedar Valley school districts receive state mental health grants

Aug. 26—DES MOINES — Three Cedar Valley school districts are among 64 across the state awarded competitive grants to assist them in providing mental health support and other wraparound services to students and families.

School districts and the amounts they're receiving include $181,937 for Waverly-Shell Rock, $70,000 for Denver and $2,087 for Cedar Falls. The grants, provided through the Governor's Emergency Education Relief Fund, were announced this week by Gov. Kim Reynolds and the Iowa Department of Education.

The awards total more than $8.6 million and are part of the $11.57 million second round of state GEER funds, which were included in the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act passed in December 2020. Governors in each state were granted a share of discretionary dollars to address critical needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Waverly-Shell Rock Community Schools' application, provided by Superintendent Ed Klamfoth, noted increasing mental health concerns in the district which are impacting behavior and attendance at the kindergarten through eighth-grade level.

"Students and families need more consistent support and help connecting to community resources," the application said. "This money will allow us to enhance partnerships with community resources to train and support staff that are in direct contact with students and their families."

Currently, less than 5% of K-8 staff have received youth mental health first aid training, which the district expects will increase to 80% under the grant. Training will also be available for high school staff with a streamlined process created for service coordination, collaboration and referral. A coordinator will be hired to oversee the efforts.

Klamfoth said most of the funding will be used to hire someone for the position, although he noted "we haven't worked out all of the details yet" of the grant's expenditures.

Denver Community Schools also expects to add a new position of full-time social worker with the funding, said Superintendent Brad Laures, as well as develop more formalized screening of possible issues students face.

"We are very excited to receive this grant," he noted in an email. "COVID-19 has created many challenges for everyone.

"One of those challenges is to meet the social-emotional needs of people. Being shut down, isolated, scared are just some of the reasons these needs are so evident," said Laures.

Cedar Falls Community Schools already contracts with Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center to provide services for its students, funded through at-risk budget dollars. Jill White, executive director of student services, said the district sought a smaller amount of money and will use the grant to instead address students with severe anxiety that is prohibiting them from coming to or staying at school. Materials focused on coping skills will be purchased for parents along with companion resources for students.

"Research has shown that one of the most effective ways to support children with anxiety is by educating their parents about their disorder and how to support them," she said in an email. This is "an online parenting program that helps parents support their kids at home, while also providing cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety to students at home or school." The district plans to grow the program, White said, "if our data shows that it is impactful for students."

Other Northeast Iowa districts receiving grants and their amounts include Charles City, $100,000; North Fayette Valley, $88,000; Grundy Center, $70,000; New Hampton, $60,000; and Tripoli, $30,000. The largest grants, totaling $650,000 each, went to the Dubuque, Iowa City and Davenport community schools followed by a $624,000 award to Cedar Rapids Community Schools.

Unless a district requested a different amount, awards were distributed based on enrollment. Applicants had to demonstrate unique student and family mental health needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with priority given to those proposing direct services. A total of 130 grant applications were received.

The list of the 64 school districts along with their respective intended award amounts is available at educateiowa.gov, the Iowa Department of Education's website.

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