“Despite the school’s Section 504 obligation to evaluate any student who needs or is believed to need special education or related services because of a disability, the principal does not refer the student for evaluation,” the fact sheet says. They include an example of a parent who reports that their student has developed severe depression for the first time during the pandemic. The document details several hypothetical situations that might prompt a federal investigation from the Education Department’s office for civil rights. Schools should also train staff to recognize and respond to signs of suicidal ideation and “develop trauma-informed crisis management procedures that include an individualized assessment of the student’s circumstances,” they urged. School psychologists who help address student mental health concerns must also tackle a backlog of special education evaluations to determine which students are dealing with expected academic challenges posed by interrupted learning time and which may have unaddressed disabilities.Ī Fact Sheet on Supporting and Protecting the Rights of Students at Risk of Self-Harm in the Era of COVID-19 In a recent survey by the EdWeek Research Center, 19 percent of responding district leaders and principals said they had difficulty hiring new mental health counselors. Groups like the National Association of School Psychologists said schools already had inadequate numbers of support staff like psychologists, social workers, and school counselors before the pandemic.Įven with new funding, school administrators must confront a staffing crunch that has affected all sectors of the economy and has made it difficult to recruit staff in all areas of the school, including teachers and bus drivers. The instruction comes as schools struggle to meet students’ mental health needs. Schools face challenges with mental health efforts 10, specifically says schools must provide “reasonable modifications to school policies, practices, and procedures, as appropriate for an individual student.” Failure to do so could amount to “discrimination based on disability,” which could lead to a federal civil rights investigation, the fact sheet says. The new guidance, released in honor of World Mental Health Day on Oct.
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