Chronology of Agenda Item - School-Based Mental Health Services Grant 5.26.26

                     DeKalb County School District (DCSD)

      Chronology of the Agenda Item – School-Based
             Mental Health Services Grant
                      School Psychological Services Support

School psychologist shortages are a nationwide problem contributing to vacancies,
recruitment challenges, turnovers, heavy student caseloads, and professional
burnout in the school setting. At the same time, student mental health needs have
increased along with requests for psychological evaluations based upon Child Find
regulations. To mitigate these concerns, the DeKalb County School District –
Recruit, Train, and Retain (DCSD-RTR) project was written in collaboration with
Mrs. Kimberly Franklin, Senior Coordinator of DCSD Psychological Services; Dr.
Tamika La Salle, Associate Professor of School Psychology and Director of the
Center for Research on School Safety, School Climate & Classroom Management
at Georgia State University (GSU); and Dr. Catherine Perkins, Coordinator of the
Educational Specialist Program in School Psychology and School Psychology
Internship Program at Georgia State University (GSU). The primary objectives for
supporting the DCSD-RTR project are to recruit school psychologists and future
school psychologists, to train and prepare school psychologists to provide mental
health services, and to retain school psychologists in DCSD and reduce the ratio of
school psychologists to students. It is requested that the Board of Education
approve the amendment and ratification of the Georgia State University (GSU)
School Based Mental Health Services Grant for year 4 of 5. At the request of the
legal department, the requested amendment and ratification of the amended
contract is for January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. The ratification is
requested to ensure the contract amendment board approval aligns with the grant
terms.

DeKalb County School District’s (DCSD) Office of Psychological Services was
awarded the U.S. Department of Education’s (USDOE) School-Based Mental
Health Services grant in the amount of $2.9 million dollars. Official notice for this
award from the U.S. Department of Education was received on December 31,
2022, with a start date of January 1, 2023. The grant runs from calendar year to
calendar year. This is Year 4 of the grant, and the third amendment to the
Technical Service Agreement with Georgia State University (GSU). DCSD is the
fiscal agent of the grant and is requesting to provide GSU with funds to implement
the following technical services as outlined in the grant proposal: Course
development to prepare practitioners to work in high-needs districts specifically
DCSD; targeted professional development for DCSD school psychologists and/or
mental health personnel; enhanced recruitment activities; supplies; conference
travel; the support of a graduate research assistant; payment of tuition and health
insurance; co-direct support of all project activities including gathering and
analyzing annual outcome data to write the annual performance report for the US
DOE; coordinate efforts to engage in equity audits in schools and analyze data; and
attend all grant and Advisory Board meetings.

The table below reflects the number of school psychology graduate students who
will matriculate through Georgia State University. This grant places DCSD in a
great position to have immediate access for school psychologists when positions
become vacated and replacements are needed or to have growth positions for
increasing the impact of mental health support from school psychologists.


                        Georgia State University Graduate Students
                Year 1      Year 2        Year 3       Year 4           Year 5
   st
   1 Year     Goal # = 5 Goal # = 5 Goal # = 5 Goal # = 5
    Grad.      Students    Students      Students     Students
   Student
 (Full-Time   Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =
  at GSU)     4 Students:   6 Students:   6 Students:   5 Students:

              K.C., C.G.,   T.C., R.F.,     K.M.,         A.W.,
              I.R., T.W.    A.R., H.R.,   M.M., J.C.,   V.A., L.T.,
                            K.S., N.W.    K.G., E.L.,   H.L., S.M.
                                             G.L.
   2nd Year   Goal # = 3    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5
     Grad      Students      Students      Students      Students      Students
   Student
 (Practicum   Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =
    – Part-   2 Students:   4 Students:   6 Students:   6 Students:   5 Students:
   Time at
   GSU &      A.H., R.S.    K.C., C.G.,   T.C., R.F.,     K.M.,         A.W.,
  Part-Time                 I.R., T.W.    A.R., H.R.,   M.M., J.C.,   V.A., L.T.,
  at DCSD)                                K.S., N.W.    K.G., E.L.,   H.L., S.M.
                                                          G.L.

  3rd Year                  Goal # = 3    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5    Goal # = 5
    Grad                     Students     Students       Students      Students      Students
   Student
  (Intern –                 Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =    Actual # =
 Full-Time                  2 Students:   4 Students:   5 Students:   6 Students:   5 Students:
 at DCSD
    with                    A.H., R.S.    K.C., C.G.,   T.C., A.R.,     K.M.,         A.W.,
  Seminar                                 I.R., T.W.    H.R., K.S.,   M.M., J.C.,   V.A., L.T.,
 Course at                                                N.W.        K.G., E.L.,   H.L., S.M.
    GSU)                                                                G.L.
   Hired                                Goal # = 3   Goal # = 5    Goal # = 6   Goal # = 5
                                         Students     Students      Students     Students

                                       Actual # =    Actual # =
                                       2 Students:   4 Students:

                                        A.H., R.S.   K.C., C.G.,
                                                     I.R., T.W.
 Additional    Year 2                    Year 2:
   Info       M.A. left                    R.F.
              grant for                 removed
              doctoral                 from grant,
               degree                      T.C.
              pursuits                  repeating
                                        practicum
   Total      Goal # = 8    Goal # =    Goal # =      Goal # =     Goal # =     Goal # = 5
  Students     Students    13 Students 15 Students       15           10         Students
  Per Year                                            Students     Students
              Actual # =   Actual # = Actual # =                                Actual # =
              6 Students   12 Students 16 Students   Actual # =    Actual # =   5 Students:
                                                        16            11
                                                     Students:     Students:


Prior to the start of the grant (2022-23 school year), there were 43 school
psychologists employed. There were 4 resignations at the end of the 2022-23
school year, and recruitment efforts led to the hiring of 5 school psychologists
providing a total of 44 school psychologists for the 2023-24 school year for Year 1
of the grant. At the end of the 2023-24 school year, there were 5 resignations and
recruitment efforts led to the hiring of 12 school psychologists totaling 51 school
psychologists employed in Year 2 of the grant for 2024-25 school year. At the end
of the 2024-25 school year, there were 2 resignations. Ten school psychologists
were hired for the 2025-26 school year including 2 graduate students from the
grant. There are currently 59 school psychologists employed in DCSD. Another
purpose of the grant was to support the efforts for hiring school psychologists
associated with the growth positions that were initially approved by the district.

Through the School-Based Mental Health Services grant funding, PREPaRE
training, which is an evidence-based resource for school crisis prevention and
response, has been provided for the school psychologists, school psychologist
interns, and selected school social workers. Four district school psychologists
received PREPaRE Train-the-Trainer instruction and are now able to offer the
training to newly hired school psychologists and district student support personnel.
The school psychologists and school psychology interns have received training on
the WhyTry curriculum which is based upon the sound principles of solution-
focused brief therapy, social and emotional intelligence, and multisensory learning.
Recruitment/hiring bonuses have been provided to the newly hired school
psychologists, and retention bonuses were given during Year 1 for the school
psychologists who remained in DCSD. In addition, membership to the Georgia
Association of School Psychologists (GASP) has been paid or reimbursed to all
DCSD school psychologists. School psychology intern supervisors and early career
psychologists have their membership paid for or reimbursed for the National
Association of School Psychologists (NASP). Stipends for GASP and/or NASP
conference attendance are provided to school psychology internship supervisors.
Additional on-site professional development opportunities have been offered for all
school psychologists throughout the school year with some funding coming from
the grant. The senior coordinator and lead school psychologist, who are DCSD-
RTR Project Director and Co-Director respectively, receive paid membership for
both GASP and NASP, and stipends for traveling to GASP and NASP conferences.
Similarly, GSU DCSD-RTR Project Director and Co-Director, Dr. LaSalle-Finley
and Dr. Perkins respectively, receive membership payment to GASP and NASP
along with conference attendance. Their funding was mistakenly omitted from the
grant initial calculations and have been given approval from the US DOE Federal
Agent to alter the Technical Service Agreement amount to include these funds.