Calvert County School System Student Services Presentation and Public Listening Session Date Selection - March 20, 2025
Calvert County School System Student Services Presentation and Public Listening Session Date Selection - March 20, 2025
The meeting was called to order with 10 voting members present, establishing a quorum. The agenda was approved unanimously. A second public listening session was originally proposed for April 9 at 6 PM, but due to a conflict with CCAC awards, the date was changed to April 7 and approved. The main portion of the meeting consisted of a presentation by Cecilia Lewis, Director of Student Services, and Tiffany McFarland, Mental Health Coordinator, covering the department's wide-ranging responsibilities, current data on student discipline, mental health supports, attendance, and safety. Committee members asked questions and discussed challenges. No public comments were offered. The meeting was adjourned; the next regular meeting is scheduled for April 16.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of the meeting agenda (motion carried unanimously).
- Approval of April 7 as the date for the second public listening session (motion carried unanimously).
Discussion Items
- Presentation by Student Services: Cecilia Lewis and Tiffany McFarland provided an extensive overview of the Department of Student Services, including its pillars: student discipline, attendance, school health services, mental and behavioral health supports, school counseling, safety and security, and more. They presented data on:
- Threat assessments: 342 threats to self and 156 threats to others as of the same time last year; slight improvements noted this year.
- The PROSPR self-care app for grades 8–12: 335 users, 34.2% used it at least five times, over 2,000 check-ins.
- Panorama SEL screener results: Changes in student responses from spring 2024 for grades 3–12.
- District discipline data: Total incidents decreased from 7,454 (as of March 10 last year) to 5,933 (this year), with class cutting highest but declining, and inappropriate use of personal electronics increasing due to enforcement of cell phone policy.
- Chronic absenteeism: Calvert County is third best in Maryland; kindergarten shows highest rates; breakdown by grade, demographics, and student groups (economically disadvantaged highest).
- Recruiting and retaining mental health professionals, especially school psychologists (ratio approximately 2,100:1 students to psychologist vs. recommended 500:1 or 1,000:1).
- Q&A Session: Committee members raised questions and concerns:
- Request for data on disciplinary actions (suspensions, expulsions) beyond incident counts – Ms. Lewis agreed to provide that data.
- How parents learn about resources like LBHA and PROSPR – responses included code of conduct, health fairs, website improvements, and student ambassador programs.
- Reaching hard-to-reach parents of children with chronic behaviors – methods include school staff home visits, neighborhood events, and building trust; challenges remain.
- The need for behavioral health supports for pre-K to 2nd grade students, especially those with autism or nonverbal – Ms. Lewis noted that a training program for instructional assistants was started this year and that they would explore app-based solutions.
- The shortage of school psychologists – discussed recruitment difficulties, salary disparities, and national trends; a follow-up on what the system can do was requested.
- Clarification on restorative practices vs. restorative justice – restorative practices focus on building community and repairing harm within the community.
- A committee member shared insights from ETUCARE and Buffett Early Learning about high skill needs for early childhood challenges and the role of housing stress on attendance.
Key Outcomes
- The second public listening session was officially set for April 7, 2025 (not April 9 due to scheduling conflict).
- Cecilia Lewis committed to providing additional data on disciplinary actions (incidents connected to consequences) and any information on free behavioral health services.
- The committee will follow up with questions via email to the SSWAC.
- The next regular meeting is April 16, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call the meeting to order and determine that there's a quorum. I have 10 voting members present. That being the case, I'll declare a quorum and call the meeting officially to order. Before you is the approval of this uh meeting for your uh action. We need a motion and a second. Motion to approve the agenda. Can I second? Probably moved to second. Any need for discussion? There being none, all those in favor, please signify by indicating aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. Motion carries. We have uh in new business. Uh our second quarter uh public listening session date selection. We are recommending at this point April 9th at 6 p.m. Okay. Would you please check your schedules to see if that works for you? We have some other alternatives, but our preferred choice is the 9th at 6 p.m. Does it work for the majority of you present? I will mention I don't know how much overlap with that, but I didn't know CCAC awards are scheduled for that evening, so there may be some crossover involvement with some of our special educators and some of the people within the school system anyone else who would be negatively impacted. I will be infected with the C CAC. All right. What about Monday the 7th of April? I know this is awards season and time that we're gonna be recognizing people from now until graduation. But how does April the 7th work? All right. Then can someone make a motion that we have our public listening session on that date? Motion to approve April 7th as our second public listening session date. Second. Properly moved and seconded. Any need for further discussion. There being none, all in favor, please signify by saying aye. Aye. All opposed. We are very pleased today and honor that Cecilia Lewis, the director of student services for our public school system, is available and has uh agreed to present today. We want to thank you for your uh willingness to do so, and even under what I understand are challenging circumstances. So we thank you for uh giving us uh priority and for being present today. We have five subcommittees, four asked that you present, and so uh we are uh waiting with baited breath for this presentation. Also, uh it's my understanding that you had invited uh Ms. McFarland, and so she is among those uh who we have uh wanted to hear from as well, and so thank you for doing that because you may in fact have accelerated our schedule somewhat. So uh I invite you ladies to the table. Uh thank you. Now we know you have your own cheering sessions. We're looking forward to we just speak and can you all hear me clearly? So um for first and foremost, just thank you for the opportunity. It's always a pleasure to reconnect with some of you that I have worked with and just been truly blessed to have partnered with throughout my years with Calvert County Public Schools. Um, Tiffany McFarland is our mental health coordinator, and I asked her to partner with me today as much of the conversation related, particularly to our mental health supports for our students in Calvert County Public School fall under her workflow. And I just didn't want to have to continuously defer to a later um follow-up so that um her availability was just commiserate with mine today, and it just worked out. So thank you again for the opportunity to share what we as the Department of Student Services have the honor and pleasure of doing to serve our students and families in Calvert County each day.
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